Broken Red
by BattKattColourBlak
Summary: A continuation of my series Phonecall. Please enjoy. I hope you've read Phonecall.
1. Red Peony

**Hey! This is the continuation of my series Phonecall! I hope you all have read that. I hope you enjoy this!**

"You."  
Somebody grabbed Johnny's sleeve, causing him to whirl around. Lacey was giving him a scathing look as if she were trying to tear apart his innermost secrets.  
Which she probably was.  
"You and I still haven't had our little conversation," she continued, letting go of his sleeve. "I hope you did plan to eventually tell me, right?"  
He shrugged. "I guess I wasn't really expecting you to leave before you forced some sort of explanation out of me," he admitted. He glanced over his shoulder at the others, Laura still asleep and Mercedes chomping down at her ice-cream. Leah, of course, was with her sister- and newborn nephew.  
"Oh, don't worry about them," said Lacey. "We're going for a little walk. You can tell me what I want to know when we get to the garden thing."  
Johnny nodded. "Okay. What do you want to know?"  
Lacey frowned. "Well, start with why Jetty wanted you dead..."

**0o0o0o0**

Johnny.  
Blood was streaming down his arms. Nothing seemed right, nothing, nothing.  
The look on his face...it was so..._broken_...  
Like something inside of him had collapsed, tearing him apart from within.  
He saw me looking. He gave me a small grin. Not the grin of a crazed murderer, but the small, shy smile he gave every now and then. The smile that was appearing more and more in my little black book.  
He lifted a hand and waved at me. The white stripes along his sleeves had been stained red and were slowly turning the colour of rust.  
One hand was hidden behind his back.  
He slowly brought it forward.  
Held carefully in his hand was a red peony, it's delicate petals the same shade as the dripping fluid on his hands.  
He held it up to me, right beneath my chin.  
Then it was a knife, held at my throat.  
The steel was cold against my skin.  
He gave me that smile again, this time with more than a touch of sadness.  
He stepped closer and leaned over me.  
Whispered something to me:  
_"Why would you trust a man with blood on his hands?"_

**0o0o0o0**

I opened my eyes and rolled over on the couch. I had, once again, fallen asleep while reading. I'd gotten so used to not sleeping that I never expected to sleep. Oh, and somebody was sitting on my stomach.  
"Oh hey, you," said Mercedes.  
I groaned. "Goose, why are you sitting on my belly? It no likey that..." I then pushed her to the floor. "Crappah-dappah, that was one hell of a dream..." I yawned explosively.  
Sadee was dusting herself off. "You'll hafta tell me about it later," she said. "Otherwise, we're gonna be late for classes."  
I groaned and sat up. "Is it that time already...?" I yawned. The dream was already fading away from me...except for that sad smile Johnny had worn, and that broken look on his face. I felt my heart clench. _*Nobody should have that expression...nobody should look so lost.*_  
Then a bundle of clothes wacked me in the head.  
"Yo, hurry up and get dressed!" Scolded Sadee. "We gotta be gone in, like, 15 minutes! Get yo' ass up already!"  
I grumbled as I got dressed.  
Just another day, I suppose.

**0o0o0o0**

[And the dish said to the spoon, 'well, I really wish we hadn't run off now, seeing as it turns out dishes and spoons are terribly incompatible with each-other.' And the spoon, her little heart shattered to bits, shattered the dish just as much as her heart had been broken. The End.]  
Johnny shook his head, as if trying to dislodge a bothersome voice from out of his ears.  
[How about I tell you of Jack and Jill's realization?]  
Johnny gritted his teeth and tried to focus on the painting in front of him. It seemed that as long as he excluded a particular primary colour from his work, he could paint with a peace of mind.  
But if he tried to paint, say, a beasty in that particular primary colour, his thoughts were invaded by the nuisance that was Reverend Meat.  
[Oh, Johnny, won't you listen to my stories of love, heart-ache, and _death_? Of starvation, of want, of yearning?]  
Johnny put down his palette and brush and sat down, glaring at Meat. "I'd rather not even hear you," he said. "I just want to paint. I want to go back to this image on canvas and lose myself in another world, like how Mercedes loses herself in music or how Laura loses herself in a book. Come to think of it," he said, tapping his chin. "I haven't really read anything lately. Maybe I'll go to the book shop later..."  
[So you don't want me to tell you a story about the girl...?] As Meat almost innocently.  
Johnny scowled and stood up again. "I have no interest in your 'stories', your little twisted little anecdotes about fuck _knows_what." He started walking away.  
[Wait, Nny. Could you do something for me?]  
Johnny spun around and shot a glare that would've rivaled one of Lacey's. "What?" He snapped.  
Meat chuckled. [Tell Little Miss Laura that I say 'hi'.]  
"Great. I'll make sure to not do that," he grumbled back. Then he walked out of the house.

**0o0o0o0**

"**A-AH-CHOO**!"  
My hands flew over the sketch on my lap and smudged the meticulous charcoal lines. "Ah, shit..." I groaned. "Now I have to erase about _half_ of it...Man, I was starting to like it, too..."  
I had been drawing a picture of Mercedes with a head-set over her ears. Using one of my least-favourite mediums.  
And my sneeze had alerted her to my presence.  
"What gives, were you _drawing_ me?" She said, glaring up at me from the fork in the tree she normally rested in. "No, nuh-uh, you know how I hate having my image recorded in _any_ way."  
I sighed. "I thought you were over the whole 'I'm hideous and nobody should have to look at my face' thing."  
She shook her head. "Nope, I'm pretty sure I'm still hideous."  
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Yeah, and your voice is _so_ terrible, and your artwork is absolutely _atrocious_," I grumbled, each word dripping with sarcasm.  
She smiled. "Yep, and don't you dare try to tell me otherwise, cuz I'm just gonna disagree with you."  
Then she peeked around me and lifted up and arm to wave. "Hey, Johnny!" She called. I spun around and, lo and behold, Johnny was walking out of the book store across from the park, a bag of books under his arm.  
_*Oh yeah, I still need ta pay him back for those other books...*_ I remembered.  
He made his way over and Mercedes turned off her CD player.  
"Heya, Johnny," said Mercedes as she slid down the tree. I made a face.  
"Nny, you made my subject move," I called down.  
He smirked. "How was I supposed to know you were sketching her? Besides, I could hear that sneeze from the book store. Are you by any chance part pterodactyl?"  
"Ha, ha, yeah, that's the first time I've heard _that_ one."  
"Oh hush, you," called Mercedes. Then she turned to Johnny. "I think she _is_ part pterodactyl," she said in a stage whisper.  
"Okay, that's it," I muttered, jumping down from the tree. Mercedes stared at me and I smiled. "I'm gonna chase you around the park now, okay?"  
She smiled back. "I think I'm gonna go running now, okay?"  
And we were off.

**0o0o0o0**

Johnny sat at the base of the tree and watched the two girls run about the park. Laura was just like a child sometimes (okay, most of the time) and Mercedes did nothing but encourage her. They could both be annoying sometimes (okay, with Laura, most of the time) but they never failed in being entertaining.  
He sat back and stretched his arms over his head.  
_*Might as well get comfortable,*_ he thought. _*They could be a while...*_


	2. Hahahaaa Terror Twins!

**Um...yo. Broken Red chappy 2. Wow...um...I'm tired. I could use a nap. But I have work...dammit...oh well. ^.^ Enjoy! Oh, and the chapp title...I couldn't resist. 'twas too much fun.**

"Yep. Uh-huh. Yeah, I got it, I'll tell her. What? Where is she? Oh."  
I tried to twist myself so that I was looking up at Mercedes, but she was sitting on my back. "Lft me upf!" I muffled.  
"Oh, she's here, she's just...ya know, kinda under a bit of pressure right now. I'll make sure she gets the message." Then she hung up the phone.  
"I wonder what Johnny's up to...?" She murmured. We had had a bit of a race to the phone, both of us thinking it was Johnny. Somehow, though she's only roughly 110 lbs, Mercedes managed to pin me down. I squirmed a bit and shoved her off.  
"Hey, that was uncalled for!" She complained.  
I shot her a glare. "How was _that_ uncalled for? You friggen' pinned me down! I pay the phone and water, so the phone is technically _mine_."  
"And Thorton pays for everything else, so the phone is _also_ technically mine." Then she smirked. "Even if that call was for you."  
I glared at her as I stood up. "Who was it...?" I asked slowly.  
She stood up, too, smirking all the way. "Some-one we both know..." she replied.  
I crossed my arms. "Narrow it down a bit?"  
She mirrored me. "Wehell, they have a tendency to dress in black..."  
I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, that _really_ narrows it down, Goose..."  
Her smirk grew. "Well, _she_ incites fear into the hearts of many, even if they don't know why."  
"Oh." I sat back on the floor. "So...it's Lacey?"  
She shook her head. "You're only half right."  
I gave her a frightened look. "You don't mean...?"  
She nodded grimly. "Yep. _Tanya_, too."  
I groaned. "Don't tell me...they're coming down to visit?"  
Mercedes nodded. "For Hallowe'en."  
"Um, all 13 days of it?"  
She smiled. "That was your thing, but yeah, I think that was what they were aiming at."  
I leaned back. "Ugh...that means they'll be here, what, tomorrow? They'd hafta be here before the 19th...and tomorrow's the 16th..."  
Mercedes shifted a little. "Uh, well, about that..."  
*Knock-knock*  
I put the heels of my palms against my eyes. "No. Shit, you've _gotta_ be kidding me..."  
*Knock-knock-knock*  
"Couldn't they give me at least three days to prepare? A _day_, even?"  
***Knock-knock-knock-knock***  
"That's a 'no'," sighed Mercedes. "Want me to get it?"  
I nodded. "Yeah. Otherwise, they'll _both_ jump me..."  
I ran off to my room and barricaded the door.

**0o0o0o0**

"Hellooooo?"  
That was Lacey.  
"Guess whoooo...?"  
Tanya...they were close.  
"Oh, Laaaaaurraaaaaaa..."  
That...was both of them...and they were right outside...  
Oh shit.  
"**LAURA, OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!**"  
"You know it'll be worse for you if you don't!" I heard Mercedes call. "C'mon, Laura, get out of there!"  
"No!" I yelled. "I KNOW Lacey has a binder, and I bet ya anything that Tanya has one too!"  
I heard them snigger. "Oh, she knows us sooo welll..." Tanya drawled.  
"It _is_ the best way to keep her in line..." agreed Lacey.  
"C'mon, put 'em down!" I begged. "I'm not a psychotic elementary schooler anymore! I don't need the bop on the head anymore!"  
"**We don't believe you,**" the twin girls chorused.  
"She's not gonna open the door unless you drop the binders," said Mercedes.  
"**Oh, fine,**" they grumbled. "**They're gone now, Laura. We won't hit you with 'em.**"  
I creaked my door open and peeked out. Lacey and her identical twin Tanya were empty handed...  
I stepped out. "Okay, what's up, then?"  
***BOP***  
Both girls whacked me on the head bare-handed. "Owwww..." I groaned. "I guess you did say you wouldn't hit me with the binders...but why hit me?"  
"**Because it's funny,**" they said together. I grumbled some random jibberish. Then I straightened up. "Okay, now that that's done with..." I bear-hugged the twins. "It's great to see you guys! Long time, no see, Tanya!"  
They laughed. Lacey and Tanya were identical in looks, opinions (mostly), style (mostly)and demeanors.  
Meaning, they were both quite demonic.  
And while Lacey favoured greens and purples, Tanya preferred neons, like shocking pink stitching an yellow shoes and such. She was more punky than Lacey, in a way.  
"So," I began. "You guys are here for the 13 days?"  
They nodded. "We don't really get to hang out on Hallowe'en," said Lacey.  
"And you are _very_ entertaining around October," added Tanya.  
I sighed. "And since Lace already met Johnny, I suppose it's _your_ turn to poke and prod with the question stick, right?"  
Tanya laughed. "I don't think I can get anymore than what Lacey got, I just wanna meet him myself," she denied.  
The phone rang. "I'll get it!" Yelled Mercedes.  
"My phone, bitch!" I cried, then I charged towards the phone.  
Well, let's just say that...tiny little whisp of a thing that Sadee it, she is _very_ strong...

**0o0o0o0**

"Hey, Johnny," said Mercedes.  
"Huh. Beat Laura to the phone again?"  
He heard her chuckle. "Yeah, she's sooo slow."  
He chuckled. "Get up off of her, Mercedes, I actually called Laura's phone to talk to Laura."  
She 'hmphed'. "It's _my_ phone, too..." she grumbled. But he heard an 'oof', like somebody getting up from the floor. "Yo, Johnny," said Laura. "What's up?"  
"Remember that painting we were talking about?" He asked, twirling a paintbrush.  
"The beasty one?"  
"Yes."  
"Yeah, I like that one so far. What about it?"  
He sighed an shifted the phone to his other ear. "I need another opinion on it," he admitted. "The colours I'm using don't seem to be working too well for it."  
"Want me to come over and look?"  
He shook his head out of habit. "Nah, it's small, so I can bring it over. Is that alright?"  
"Eh..." Laura seemed to hesitate. "Only if you're willing to meet another new face...well, not necessarily a new _face_ per se, it's actually quite...familiar, but rather...a new person."  
"A new person with a familiar face? What, is your brother over?"  
"We don't look that much alike!" Laura bristled.  
Johnny chuckled. "He's the male version of you."  
She sighed. "Whatevs...we'll save that debate for later. Now, are you willing to put up with another human being? Lacey's here, too."  
Johnny cringed. *_Ah, Lacey...she knows about..._* He shook his head. It didn't matter what Lacey knew, he was past that.  
Meat chuckled in his corner.  
Well, _mostly_ past that.  
"Yeah, that's fine. I was the one who wanted an opinion, after all."  
"So, when you comin', then?"  
He picked up the 'beasty' painting.  
"I'll be over in about 10 minutes."  
"Alright, see ya, then."

**0o0o0o0**

"So that was Johnny, eh?" Asked Tanya.  
"He's coming over?"  
"Yeah, he said something about needing an opinion for his painting."  
"Oooh, I can't _wait_..." Tanya giggled.  
I sighed. "Please don't cause him any _permanent_ mental scarring," I pleaded. "He's got enough on his plate as it is..."  
I heard Lacey snort. "You have no idea..."  
At least, I _think_ that's what she said. I couldn't really tell.


	3. Tactile and Auditory

**Hello again! Have you ever had a Hallowe'en that lasted 10 chapters? Um...please be patient. I'm...actually not sure how long this arc lasted.**

I flopped down on my bed and sighed. "Why...today was supposed to be my day off..."  
I had spent the better part of the last three days racing about with Tanya, Lacey, and Sadee. Why? Well, we are doing the 13 Days of Hallowe'en _together_. None of us were done with our 13 different costumes when the twins showed up...  
So I had to go shopping...with the twins...  
It's rather exhausting.  
I could hear Tanya and Lacey ticking off costumes in the living room and I groaned. Today was Friday; the day I normally spent hanging out with Johnny (seeing as it's the only day I don't have any work or school) but _no_...Lace and Tahn had to go and drag me around some...questionable...shops. Shops I did not know existed until they found them.  
But we ended up getting enough stuff for 47 different costumes. Yeah, that's right: _47_ bloody costumes. And we still needed stuff for five more...  
I sighed again. "I hate shopping..."

**0o0o0**

_*Riiiiiiiiing*_  
*Cli-ick* "Herro, who be this?"  
Johnny sighed. "Hey, Mercedes. It's Johnny."  
"Oh hey, Johnny. What's up?"  
"Nothing...nothing really."  
_*Nothing? That's bull-shit.*_  
[It's still breathing, Nny. You can hear it, can't you?]  
He could. The...whatever it was, it was breathing.  
"Nny?"  
Oh, right. Phone. Mercedes.  
"Hey Nny, if you're lookin' for Laura, she's sleeping off three days of involuntary shopping right now."  
"Involuntary...shopping?"  
He heard Mercedes chuckle. "Yeah, the twins have decided to participate in the 13 Days of Hallowe'en, so we've been spending the last three days shopping around classes and our jobs."  
Johnny sighed and shook his head. "Why 13 days...?" He asked cautiously.  
"Uh, I dunno. Well, I kinda do, but Laura was the one who thought it up and stuff. She'd explain it better. Want me to have her call you back when she gets up?"  
Johnny shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. I needed to ask her something."  
Mercedes chuckled again. "Oooh, is it something fun? C'mon, tell me!"  
"Eh..."  
"I'm joking, Johnny. Don't worry, I'll tell her."  
He relaxed slightly. "Thanks, Mercedes."  
"No prob."

**0o0o0o**

"So...what's up, Nny?"  
Johnny and I were, believe it or not, sitting in the tree at the park formerly known as the park of shittiness. He'd taken a lower branch, so I had to lie down to really see him.  
He breathed out and scratched the back of his head. "I'm not really sure how to put this, but..."  
I scooted down a branch. "You're all worried-lookin' and stuff. What's buggin' ya? Is it Harajrha?"  
Harajrha was what I'd called the beasty painting he'd been working on lately.  
He gave a small shrug. "Y-yeah, actually. Hey, do you remember what you told me about auditory hallucinations?"  
I nodded. "Yeah. What 'things' have you been hearing, then?"  
He waved his arm out vaguely. "Things..." he muttered.  
_*Oooookaaaay...*_ "What _kinds_ of things?" I prodded.  
He shrugged again. "Have you ever...hmm...have your paintings and drawings ever..._spoken_ to you?"  
I sat back on my branch. "Uh, yeah. All the time. What, are you talking to Harajrha now?"  
He shook his head. "Not really. It's more like...I can _hear_ it breathing. Even when I'm not working on it. And when I _am_working on it, it sort of..." He shrugged again. "It's a bit difficult to describe, actually."  
I clung to my branch like a sloth. "Give it a shot," I said.  
He stretched his arms. "Well, it's like...it has more _life_ than anything I've ever worked on before. It's like it wants to be _more_."  
"Maybe you should've made it a sculpture," I joked. I got a withering look in response.  
"I'm being serious," he said quietly.  
I sat up on my branch. "I'm sorry," I said. "Remember, I'm more childish than a child most days."  
He smirked. "Yeah, that _is_ true," he agreed. I relaxed slightly. "Well, I dunno what to say, Johnny. I've never really had that happen to me before..."  
He shrugged and a look flashed across his face, something that said that he'd expected as much.  
"Now, then..." he began. "Mercedes told me that you two and the twins are going to be doing a...13 Days of Hallowe'en. Dare I ask?"  
I chuckled. "Oh, that..." I said. "It's nothing, really. Just something I started up when I was a freshman in high-school. You know how there's the 12 Days of Christmas?"  
He nodded.  
"Well, I do 13 days of Hallowe'en. From the 19th through the 31st, I dress up in 13 different costumes."  
"But the 12 Days of Christmas starts on Christmas, doesn't it?" He asked pointedly. I waved a hand.  
"Yeah, that's _Christmas_, though. It's not like I can exactly dress up for Hallowe'en _after_ Hallowe'en, right?"  
"But you dress up on any occasion you get," he pointed out.  
I stuck my tongue out at him. "That's not the same," I huffed. "On those days, it's all _subtle_ like."  
Johnny snorted. "Yes, dressing up in a black trench-coat and a spikey red wig is _very_ subtle," he said sarcastically. I grinned at him. "Ah, but you see, that _is_ subtle for me. That was a 'normal' outfit for me when I was a...I dunno, a sophomore, I guess. Hallowe'en is _completely_ different."  
"And you enlist people into dressing up each day, too?"  
I gave him a mock-offended look. "Of course not," I sniffed. Then I groaned. "Besides, it's more like the twins enlisted Mercedes and I into dressing up this year. Ugh..."  
Johnny grimaced. "You know, I think I _won't_ ask about that."  
"Tch. You'll find out about it soon enough," I said. "The 19th, after all, is Sunday." I twirled my finger in the air half-heartedly. "Let the games begin..."

**0o0o0o**

"So, Laura, what did Johnny want? Inquiring minds want to know, dammit." Pestered Tanya. Lacey and Mercedes leaned over the couch to look at me.  
My head began to throb, but that might've been due to her wearing a BRIGHT PINK shirt and a NEON BLUE pair of pants...  
Instant colour-induced head-ache.  
"Nothing," I mumbled. I walked to my room. "I'ma gonna pretend to be asleep, so please don't bug me..."  
I shut the door before any of them could respond and plopped face-down on my bed without turning the light on. "Ugh..." I groaned. "Looooooong day..."  
I curled up into a little ball and let my mind wander. Then my wandering mind picked up something to examine it closely. "Harajrha...what are you saying to Johnny, now..."  
I rolled the idea around in my head for a bit. Johnny had said something about the painting 'breathing'. That'd honestly never happened to me before; the closest thing to it was feeling like my drawings were staring at me. One of the reasons I have no posters on my walls.  
"Paranoia..." I mumbled. "Auditory hallucinations...blah, blah, blah...fancy terms..."  
I shook my head before my thoughts could get more muddled. "Ahk, dammit, Johnny...what's going on...?"

**0o0o0**

Silent. It was silent. Johnny heard nothing from it.  
But was that something to be relieved about?


	4. Still not Hallowe'en

**Wow. This chappy is shoooort...sorry 'bout that. Next one is longer. Waaait...no, it's definitely gonna be longer.**

"So..." I said. "You _don't_ want me to come shopping with you today."  
"**Nope,**" chorused the twins. "**We've put you through sooo much lately...**"  
Then they giggled. "We thought we'd give you a break," finished Lacey.  
I sighed and plopped onto the couch. There was this nagging suspicion in the back of my head, but I ignored it forcefully.  
Besides, I had a painting due the upcoming Tuesday; I was glad to get some time to work on it.  
"**We're going now,**" the twins called on their way out.  
"Have fun!" I called back.  
Sigh.  
"Okay, where's the paints and crup...?" I murmured.  
And so I set to painting.

**0o0o0**

Johnny was walking around town with Mercedes, letting his mind drift away from the beasty painting for a little while.  
"Not much goin' on around here in October, is there?" She stated.  
Johnny shrugged. "Things'll pick up towards the week of Hallowe'en, but other than that, no, not really."  
"Are you lookin' forward to Hallowe'en?"  
He grimaced. "Not...really," he admitted. "I think Hallowe'en's more enjoyable for kids. For me it's just...tedious."  
Mercedes gave him a look. "Laura's heart would break if she heard you say that," she said good-naturedly.  
He snorted. "Laura _is_ a kid, though. More so than you." She nodded in return.  
"Yeah, even she admits to that. I've known her for what, five, maybe six years now? _She'd_ claim otherwise, but I think she hasn't matured at _all_ over all those years." She paused for a moment. "Then again, Lace and Tahn will go on and _on_ about how much of a nuisance she used to be." She shrugged. "Maybe she _has_ matured some."  
Johnny shook his head. "You _are_ aware that you just talked yourself around in a circle, right?"  
She stuck her tongue out at him. "Yeah, and?"  
He sighed. "Nothing, I guess."  
Then Mercedes' head shot around. "What is it?" Asked Johnny. She narrowed her eyes.  
"I could've sworn I just heard one of the twins talking..." Then she dashed off. Johnny heard a triumphant "AHA!", then followed her at a much slower pace.  
Around the corner of a large building stood Mercedes and the twins. The had been shopping (Johnny was surprisingly surprised) and had two large bags apiece from some store he'd never heard of.  
"Are those more costumes?" He heard Mercedes ask.  
"Yep," said Tanya, the neon twin. "We've got all six costumes. Now we have all we need for the 13 days."  
"Laura'll be thrilled," added Lacey. "We even got stuff to decorate the apartment."  
"Oh-ho," giggled Mercedes. "I though we only needed five more costumes, though."  
"**Oops. Our mistake.**" Then the twins saw Johnny.  
The grins they gave him sent small shivers up his spine.  
"I think this Hallowe'en will be _extra_ fun, right, Tanya?" Asked Lacey.  
"Oh, I couldn't agree more, Lacey," Tanya replied.  
Johnny resisted the strong urge to get as far away from them as possible.  
Barely.

**0o0o0**

"Oh yay! I'm done!"  
The oil painting on my easel was _finally_ done. It kind of reminded me of Johnny's Harajrha painting, except that this was blue...  
"Ah, what should I call you, beasty?" I asked quietly. "Anna...no...boring..."  
The painting said nothing.  
"Maybe...Terrian? No, that's like a dog's name..." I chuckled. "Sheesh, it's not like I have to name it or anything...that's not required. But you look like you need a name... "  
I sighed. Then something clicked in my head. "Anatarian?"  
The painting seemed brighter. "Ah, cool! You're Anatarian! I like it!" I smiled. Then...  
Mercedes and the twins crashed into the apartment.  
"TAHN! YOU CAN'T MAKE HIM!"  
"IT'LL BE MORE FUN FOR HIM!"  
"Admit it; you'd love to see him in costume!"  
"True. But that's beside the point!"  
My head started to ache, then I stood up.  
Grabbed a hardcover book from the table.  
And threw it.

I dunno who it hit, but it shut them up.  
"Okay, what the HELL is going on here?" I yelled. "You guys are _waaaaay_ too loud!"  
Lacey scowled at me. "Laura...?" she asked.  
I (tried) to hold her gaze. "Yes, Lacey?"  
The twins giggled. "**How would you like to see Johnny dressed up on Hallowe'en?"**


	5. The Illegal Alien

**Hello, Lovelies! I hope you enjoy this chappy! (Oh, and Sadee speaks lots of German in this chap; I put the translation down below) Have a nice day!**

As much as Sadee and I would've _loved_ to see Johnny all dressed up in what was probably an epic costume bought by the twins, we both held firm in saying that it was his choice to do so.

Of course, that by no means meant we weren't going to try to persuade him to wear it...

**0o0o0**

When the door opened to apartment number 21, Johnny had to suppress the strong urge to scream, for on the other side of the door was a green-skinned alien with completely red eyes and dark blue hair.  
It bore a striking resemblance to Mercedes.  
He took a deep breath. "Mercedes...?" He asked hesitantly.  
The alien grinned, revealing rows of sharp, pointed teeth. "Ah, Hallo, Johnny," she said. "Keine schlechte Kostum, huh?"  
Johnny sighed. "Why are you speaking in German?" He asked. Mercedes shrugged. "Ich bin ein illegaler Auslander," she replied. "Und es macht Spaß." She stepped aside to let him in.  
Johnny hadn't understood a word she'd just said. "So I guess Day One is German aliens?"  
Mercedes grin widened. "Haha, nein, nein, mein Freund. Warten bis Sie sehen Laura."  
He shook his head and stepped inside. Then he saw Laura sitting at the kitchen table.  
"What the FUCK happened to you?" He shouted.  
Her left arm was in a sling, he neck covered in finger-shaped bruises and her left eye swollen and dark. Her right arm was wrapped in white bandages and there was a gauze pad taped to her left cheek.  
But she was smiling.  
"You like it?" She asked. "It took me forever to get the bruises on my neck just right. Does it look real enough?" Her voice was light and she was grinning from ear to ear.  
Johnny cleared his throat. "It's...very realistic," he replied. "So realistic I might be taken in by a police officer if we were seen together outside."  
"Ich habe dir gesagt, weniger detailliert!" Shouted Mercedes. Laura scowled at her.  
"I'll add some obviously fake blood then. There, happy?"  
Mercedes shook her head. "Es werde zu tun haben," she muttered.  
Laura nodded, then looked back at Johnny. "So, what d'ya wanna do today?" She asked perkily.  
Johnny sighed. "You invited me over with no plan in mind?"  
"Ich habe dir gesagt habe etwas geplant," muttered Mercedes.  
"Oh hush, Goose," snapped Laura. "You should be used to that by now, Johnny. I close to never plan ahead."  
"Wir konnten in die Bibliothek gehen," suggested Mercedes.  
"Oh yeah," said Laura. "I haven't been there in a while...is it open on Sundays?" She directed the question at Johnny.  
_*I don't even know what Mercedes just said...*_ "Is what open? I don't understand German..."  
"Oh." Laura cocked her head to the side. "She said we could go to the library. Is the library here open on Sundays?"  
_*Ah.*_  
"I'm not too sure, but we could go and check," he suggested.  
"Sweet," said Laura. "I just gotta go and put on some super-fake blood."  
She got up and walked to the bathroom.  
Mercedes sidled closer to Johnny. "Sie," she began. "Brauchen also nicht Deutsch verstehen, eh?"

**0o0o0**

As it turned out, the library _was_ open on Sundays. Lucky us, cuz I had no idea what we would've done if it weren't.

**0o0o0**

"Man, I love this place," I whispered. Out of many of the crappy places in this town, the huge and beautiful library was a wonderful contrast.  
"**This place is soooo cool,**" whispered Sadee in German.  
On this outside, it was a boring grey-stoned building. But on the inside...  
Wow.  
Just...wow.  
The insides where built using a combination of grey stone and dark woods, giving it the odd feeling of warmth. There were floors of books upon books, making me feel immediately at home. Our reflections shone clearly in the smooth marble floor, and the loudest sounds were the soft whispers of pages turning or quiet inquiries at the information desks.  
I wandered off in a random direction and drifted off into my own world.

**0o0o0**

"Ah, wo hast Laura gehen?" Asked Mercedes.  
Johnny may not understand German, but the idea got through. He looked around.  
Laura was gone.  
"Wir mussen die madchen an der Leine zu halten," the girl muttered.  
"I find myself agreeing with whatever you just said," Johnny replied.  
"Gut. Ich bin froh," she said.  
Johnny sighed. "C'mon, we may as well go look for her," he said. "But could you lay off the German just for a little bit? I don't have an interpreter anymore..."  
"Haah, fiiiine," she relented. "Ya know, I bet she's in the mythology section," she suggested. "Her obsession with dragons and what-not would drag her there."  
Johnny nodded. "Alright, let's go."

**0o0o0**

"Ah, you're looking for the girl dressed up like she got jumped? Yeah, she just left here. She was carrying four of five HUGE books with her."  
Johnny sighed. "Yep, that's who we're looking for..."  
Mercedes stared at the man. "Did you see where she went...?" She asked.  
The man shrugged. "I think she might've gone to the Zoology section." Then he snickered. "But...what's with that getup? Isn't it a little early for Hallowe'en?"  
Mercedes glared lightly at him. "Dude, for all you know, I could easily rip out your kidneys without even touching you," she snapped.  
_*Heheh, that would be interesting,*_ thought Johnny.  
The man held up his hands in front of him. "Hey, hey, don't get nasty. Just asking a question." His gaze traveled over Johnny. "But by the looks of it, all three of you are a little early for the spook-fest."  
Johnny was immediately became pissed-off at the man.  
"Let's go, Mercedes," he said. "And _thank_ you," he added to the asshole.

**0o0o0**

I walked towards the stairs from the Zoology section, carrying away a few books on reptiles and the anatomies of flying creatures. _*History section, here I come...*_

**0o0o0**

"Okay, so you _did_ see a girl dressed up like that," asked Mercedes.  
The lady at the Zoology information desk sighed. "Yes, I did," she responded. "She asked for some books on creatures of flight and reptiles. I thought she was really hurt, but the large red smears on her arms were very much fake."  
Johnny sighed. "Is she still around here?" He asked.  
The lady shook her head. "I'm afraid she left here just a little while ago," she replied.  
_*Damn that girl moves fast.*_  
"She went in the direction of the stairs."  
"What's up there?" Asked Mercedes.  
The lady tapped her chin. "History, mostly. I think there's also some language books and such up there."  
Mercedes thanked the woman and they set off towards the stairs.  
"Which section do you think she's in?" Asked Johnny.  
Mercedes shrugged. "Knowing Laura, it could be anything from the Dark Ages to the late 1930's. As long as it's not American history...besides the early 20th century."  
Johnny groaned. "So she could be anywhere up there..."  
Mercedes nodded. "Yep. Goddammit, Laura..."

**0o0o0**

As I walked away from the history section, my nose started to twitch. "Ah...ACHIEW!" I sneezed. A few of the browsers glared at me, but other than that, no reaction. "Huh...some-one must be talking about me," I mused. "Oh, and that info-man was nice." The kind man had given me a bag for the books I was carrying and pointed me in the direction of my next goal. "Ugh, but _more_ stairs?" I groaned, then shrugged. "Ah, whatevs. Ah, I still have one more stop to make..." Then I yawned. "Ack, but I'm getting tired..."

**0o0o0**

After wandering around the second floor of the library for an hour, Johnny was getting quite irritated. "Mercedes, I hate to say this, but this is _your_ fault," he muttered.  
Mercedes gave him an offended look. "Why do you say that?" she asked.  
"It was your idea to come here," he reminded her.  
She grinned at him sheepishly. "Ah, riiight..."  
They walked up to the information desk and asked the man behind it if he'd seen Laura.  
"Oh, the girl with the weird hair? Yeah, she went down to the basement about half and hour ago," he said.  
Mercedes stared at him blankly. "There's...a basement," she repeated.  
The man nodded. "Yes, she was asking about old histories and fantastical fiction books. I gave her a bag for the other books she was carrying and pointed her towards the stairs to the basement. Does that help at all?"  
"One question," Johnny began. "Are there, by any chance, any _other_ floors in this library?"  
The man laughed quietly and shook his head. "I can see you've been searching all over for her," he chuckled. Johnny and Mercedes nodded tiredly. "Well, no need to worry. There're only three floors. If she went to the basement, she's probably still there. And," he added, holding up one finger. "There are very few people down there, so it'll be alright if you raise your voices."  
Mercedes let out a breath. "Well, that actually helps us a lot," she said. "Thank you."  
The man chuckled again. "Not a problem. By the way, very interesting outfit."  
Mercedes smiled. "Thaaank you."  
Then they walked off in the direction of the basement stairs.

**0o0o0**

"Haaaah..." I sighed, plopping into a comfortable chair in a corner. "Man, I'm glad that guy gave me a bag. There're sooooo many cool books here..." I let out another sigh. "But man, I'm tired..."  
Then a thought occurred to me. "Uh...maybe I should've told Sadee and Nny where I went..." I yawned. "Ah, well...too late now..." I stretched. "I think I'll rest a bit before going back up..."  
I slipped off my shoes and curled up in the chair.  
Then I slipped into the oblivion that is sleep.

**0o0o0**

I was looking at the paintings of Harajrha and Anatarian. They seemed angry, but Johnny's beasty painting seemed to be angrier. Suddenly, Harajrha peeled off of the canvas and twisted, it's bright red tail stuck within the painting like some scaley and leathery umbilical cord. It hovered in the air, it's orange eyes gleaming with madness. Anatarian tore itself off it's own canvas and lurked close to the ground, it's dark blue wings held tightly, lilac eyes overflowing with fear and...sadness?  
Harajrha lunged at Anatarian's neck...  
And I was shaken awake.  
"Aufwachen, dummkopf!"  
I opened my eyes to see Mercedes glaring down at me with her bright red eyes. "Ugh..." I yawned. "Who're you callin' a stupid-head?" I grumbled.  
She glowered at me. "**Who do you think?**" She asked sarcastically. "**We've been looking for you for 2 and a half hours. 2 and a half! Dammit, Laura...**"  
Johnny was wandering down one of the isles, examining titles on the shelves.  
"Has it really been that long...?" I asked. She nodded. "Ugh, what time is it?"  
Mercedes pulled out a pocket-watch- a silver one that I'd given her for Christmas one year. "**It's about 4:30,**" she replied.  
I sat up and slipped my feet into my shoes. "Sorry about that, Goose," I said. Johnny walked over with a book under his arm. "And sorry for vanishing, Johnny. Libraries..." I waved a hand in the air. "I really can get lost in them."  
He nodded and smirked. "Yeah, well, at least give us a warning next time," he said. "This library is enormous, and you...are very small."  
I stood up and stuck my tongue out at him. "I _am_ small, okay?" I retorted. He just chuckled again.  
"Are we all set here?" He asked. "I'm kind of getting sick of being in one place."  
I sighed and nodded. "Yeah, okay..."  
I gathered up my books and, after Johnny and I checked our books out, we left the library.

**0o0o0**

"Ich bin ein krapfen!" Exclaimed Mercedes randomly.  
"Nein, ICH bin ein krapfen!" Retorted Laura.  
"Nein, du bist MEIN krapfen!" Shouted Mercedes.  
Johnny shook his head. They'd gone through this routine before; apparently, Mercedes had called herself a donut, Laura had said no, _she_ was a donut, after which Mercedes claimed that Laura was _her_ donut.  
"Johnny ist ein roter Drache!" Said Laura.  
Johnny stared at the sky. _*I'm not even going to ask...*_  
They were sitting in the apartment's living room, chatting and/or reading.  
"Johnny ist ein blauer Fisch!"  
"Mercedes, did you just call me a fish?" He asked. She nodded. "Ja, sie sind ein blauer Fisch."  
He sighed. "That's...good to know..."  
The girls stopped chattering and they all set back to reading.  
Then...  
"**We're BAAACK!**"  
_*Oh, joy...*_  
The twins came barging into the living-room.  
Dressed as M&Ms.  
"Hey, what's up you guys?" Asked Tanya, who was a red M&M.  
"Did you have fun leaving us behind?" Asked Lacey, the green M&M.  
Mercedes snorted. "Nur wen du meinst ermudend," she said.  
"**ENGLISH,**" commanded the twins.  
Mercedes sighed. "I said 'only if you mean tiring.' We ended up losing _this_ one," she nodded at Laura. "In the middle of the library. Went looking for her for 2 and a half hours."  
The twins snickered. "That's Laura," commented Lacey.  
Johnny sighed and stood up. "I think I'll head out, now," he said.  
Laura gave him a disappointed look, but nodded. "Gettin' a little too crowded, eh?" She asked.  
He shrugged. "Yeah, a little."  
The girls smiled and Mercedes and Laura waved good-bye. "See-ya, Johnny," called Mercedes.  
Johnny walked out of the apartment and sighed. _*Man, those girls are draining...*_  
Then he walked to his car and drove home.

**0o0o0**

I curled up into a little ball on my bed, reading about dreams.  
I wanted to know why I kept dreaming about Johnny killing me.

**Translations (in order):**

**_I am an illegal alien,  
and it's fun._**

Haha, no no, my friend. Wait until you see Laura.

I told you, less detailed!

It will have to do.

I told you to have something planned.

We could go to the library.

So, you don't understand German, eh?

Ah, where did Laura go?

We need to keep that girl on a leash.

Good. I'm glad.

Wake up, stupid-head!

I am a doughnut! (Mercedes)

No, **I** am a doughnut! (Laura)

No, you are MY doughnut! (Mercedes)

Johnny is a red dragon! (Laura)

Johnny is a blue fish! (Mercedes)

Yes, you are a blue fish.  



	6. In the Naming

**Hey guys! Here's the next chappy; enjoy!**

**4:12 am**  
I get home from work.  
Yeah.

**0o0o0**

I opened the door to apartment 21 to see the lights were on. "Sadeeeee?" I called.  
She popped up in front of me, making me jump. "Hey there," she said. "What's up?"  
I shook my head and sighed as I walked in. "It's like quarter past 4 in the morning. Why are you still up?"  
She gave a small laugh. "Well, it's not like I have work or anything," she replied as she shut the door. "Besides, I was too excited to sleep."  
"And the twins are asleep?"  
She nodded. "They went to bed around 11. Sissies..."  
I plopped down in the only piece of furniture I saved from the old apartment (my lovely overstuffed chair). "Go wake 'em up before it gets light," I told her. "Today's a big-ish day."  
Her smile disappeared. "Uh...will I die?" She asked, only half-joking.  
I shrugged. "It'll be better to wake 'em while it's dark. Get it over with."  
She nodded and stepped off to my room (where the twins slept).  
I let my mind wander a bit...  
...then the screaming began.  
_*Sorry, Mercedes...*_

**0o0o0**

**4:30 am**  
The beasty painting began to make those awful breathing sounds again. Johnny felt so uncomfortable about it now that he'd hidden it away in a cupboard.  
It didn't stop the sounds.  
_-Johnny-_  
It spoke now, too.  
_-Johnny, where's that little girl, the one you always seem to be around?-_  
It's voice hissed and snapped like a dying fire.  
_-The one that named me-_  
Laura. Shit, what did _she_ have to do with that..._thing_?  
_-There is life in the naming-_  
"...Shut up..." he hissed at it. That loathsome voice was grating against his mind, pushing at the door he'd locked...things...behind. Pushing and pushing, almost to the point of destroying it.  
_-Wouldn't you like to be near her? To hold her hand, maybe?-_  
"Shut the FUCK up," he snapped. "I don't think of her that way."  
_-Not ever?-_  
"No. Now shut up or I will fucking BURN you."  
The painting chuckled, but otherwise remained silent.  
He stood up and walked over to another painting. This one was blissfully silent, depicting a surreal vision of the night sky. Stars and comets flashed over stars on the earth, casting the world in a cold blue.  
It was quiet there.  
He clenched his fists.  
Johnny wanted to paint it RED.

**0o0o0  
**  
"Why do I have to go, too?" Whined Mercedes. "It's my day off..."  
I grimaced and held her chin in my hand as I painted her face. "Hold still or I'm gonna poke your eye out," I warned. "Plus, this was _your_ idea, remember? You wanted all of us to go as witches together."  
"I wanted to go later..." she muttered.  
I painted one last touch of green spiral on her face and sat back to admire my work. "Okay, you are once again ENTIRELY green," I said. Her face, neck, and a good part of her hands and arms were painted green. Today, Mercedes was the stereotypical classic witch, minus the warty nose.  
Awesome buckled shoes and all.  
She tugged at my hair. "You should wear your hair down more often, it's all like wavy and shit."  
I swatted her hand away. "No touchy, you'll get green in my hair," I scolded.  
"It's not like you don't already _have_ green in your hair or anything," she shot back. "I mean, what's with the leaves?"  
"I'm an elemental witch," I responded. Yeah, I was wearing a green robe. And...I was gonna walk barefoot. All day.  
I'm not exactly the brightest tool in the knife-drawer.  
"_I_ for one am excited," said Lacey, walking from the kitchen. She was painted up (and dressed up) completely in black. That in itself was cool...  
...but her eyes were entirely white.  
I held back the urge to scream.  
"You like?" She said, pointing at her eyes. "These are soooo cool. Plus, these mean I don't have to wear my glasses. Same with Tahn."  
Tanya walked in behind Lacey. She was the photo-negative of Lacey, all white with entirely black eyes.  
Mercedes drew in a deep breath. "Myyyy god that's fucking awesome!" She exclaimed.  
Tanya bowed. "Why thank you, my dear," she said. "Yo, isn't it about time we headed out?" She asked me.  
I nodded. "Yeah, let's head out."

**0o0o0**

Painting was my first class of the day. Normally, that meant two hours of quiet contemplation as I painted the object (or person) as I saw it, but today, noooo.  
People _talked_ today.  
Mostly about the three other witches sitting around me.  
"Hey, Laura!" called a guy who sat in front of me (Sam or something). "What's with the posse of trick-or-treaters? You guys having an early mischief night or something?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Mind if I join in on the fun?"  
I glared at him and noted Tanya and Lacey grinning menacingly.  
Let Lacey and Tanya have at him.  
Pity. I _almost_ liked him.

**0o0o0**

Next class: well, that was performing arts. That class was _always_ noisy.  
"Ms. Strafe," I called as we walked into the large room. "I brought my project with me!" I forcefully walked Mercedes over to the bubbly Ms. Strafe. "This is my canvas," I said, pushing the girl in front of my teacher. I held out pictures of me and Sadee from the day before as well.  
"Ooh, this photos are very interesting..." she murmured. Sadee shifted uncomfortably.  
Ms. Strafe looked up from the photos and turned her gaze to Mercedes. "Well done, the colour gradation makes the green of the skin look almost natural," she praised.  
She spotted Lacey and Tanya wandering around the stage-set. "Don't touch anything, girls," she called. I grinned nervously. "I'll go get them." I left poor Mercedes to be inspected by Ms. Strafe.  
I walked up to the twins (who were poking around at a fake fireplace).  
"**Isn't this performing arts?**" They asked. I shrugged. "It's actually...literally the arts in performing, like make-up art and stage design."  
"**So you don't do plays?**"  
I shrugged again. "Eh, sometimes...but we mostly do design and make-up for other schools."  
"That doesn't sound like fun," said Lacey.  
"Quite boring, actually," added Tanya.  
"Wouldn't it be funny to see Laura up on stage, Tahn?"  
"Oh, I quite agree, Lace. Very funny indeed."  
They chuckled evilly.  
I gulped. "Why do I feel like something terrible will happen...?" I asked no-one in particular.  
"OI!" Shouted a voice from above us. "OFF THE SET! WE DON'T HAVE IT READY YET!"  
I dragged Lacey and Tanya away from the incomplete set. "You guys will get me into trouble," I hissed at them.  
They gave me knowing looks. "**And you don't do that yourself?**"

**0o0o0**

The rest of the day went by uneventfully.  
Besides Tanya accidentally/on purpose starting a fire in metal sculpting.  
Ye-aaah...

**0o0o0**

"OW! SHIT!"  
Johnny looked over his shoulder at Laura, dressed in that weird green robe-thing. She was hopping on one foot, holding the other in her hand. There was a small stick stuck in the ball of her foot, and she was trying to pull it out. "Wait a sec, Nny, I gotta sit down and pull this out."  
Her hair was down today, and she had a number of different leaves threaded through it.  
It was...interesting.  
"Why are you bare-foot again?" He asked. "You could step on a piece of glass if you're not too careful, you know."  
She chuckled and pulled the over-sized splinter from her foot. "Good thing I'm at least a little careful, eh?"  
She stood up and put her weight on her foot. "All better now. Let's go."  
_*That girl...*_ Johnny shook his head.  
"What are you guys being tomorrow?" He asked.  
"Nerds. The stereotypical nerds."  
Johnny slowed down. "So you're basing a costume off of a stereotype? And possibly mocking those that don't fit that stereotype but that image?" He was getting irritated all of a sudden.  
Laura could tell. "Well, we're not mocking it, we wouldn't do that." Then she chuckled again. "But even though we don't normally fit the image, the four of us are pretty nerdy and geeky."  
The feeling of irritation grew. "Let me get this straight: whenever somebody calls you or your friends a particular stereotype that you don't like, you throw a fit, but if they call you a stereotype that you don't disagree with, you accept it and let it slip over you like a pre-owned t-shirt. Is that right?"  
Laura stopped walking. "Hey, that's not it. You and I _both_ know that no one human being fits a stereotype entirely. Like how my choice in clothing could be seen as 'goth', but my personality is more 'geek' or 'nerd', but my way of thinking places me somewhere in 'peace-activist'. I'm not entirely black and white, nor is everyone else."  
Johnny shook his head. "That's true, but do you ever stop and consider what you might be doing to people with what you say or do? How it might hurt them?"  
She glared. "Always. I NEVER say anything out of malice, except at people that've wronged me. And even then I don't do it often!"  
"But even some kind of off-hand comment could make a person hurt," he retorted.  
The glare intensified. "Yeah, and as soon as I feel that I might've hurt somebody, I go back and try to fix it. I don't want to make _anyone_ hurt. I care too much, you know that!"  
Johnny could feel something stirring within him, a sensation that he'd been able to keep down for a long time now.  
"Look," she was saying. "I don't like arguing with my friends. In fact, I hate it. Please, Johnny, I don't wanna argue over something like this."  
_*Little peace-maker, little hypocritical peace-maker...*_  
He pushed that feeling somewhere deep within him, but not quite as deep as he'd like.  
Then he walked off.  
"Johnny?"  
Laura kept pace with him. "Are you going home, Johnny?"  
He stopped walking again. "Yeah. I'm sorry, but I've gotta go cool off."  
The look of sadness and regret could've made a statue cry.  
"I'm sorry that we argued, Nny," she said.  
_*She's so damn easy to read...*_  
"Will you call me when you're okay?"  
_*She's like a child. Innocent in some ways, a nuisance in others.*_  
He nodded. "I'll call you on Wednesday or something, okay?"  
She nodded, seemingly relieved.  
_*She clings tightly to whatever gives her the light of day.*_  
"I'll see ya later, Johnny." She waved and walked off.  
Johnny watched her for a few seconds, then turned around.  
Not in the direction of the house, though.  
That feeling...it wasn't going to go away anytime soon.

**0o0o0**

After my graveyard shift at the book-shop, I had about two hours to get ready for school.  
The four of us dressed up as the stereotypical nerds (thick-lensed glasses and pocket-protectors included).  
The others seemed to have fun.

But my heart wasn't really in it.


	7. Nightmares and Gallymopes

**Hello, hello! I'm bored. Anyone else bored? Because I am! I...**

**Batt: Do people even bother reading this part?**

**Sadee: I don't think so. You always ramble on about the weirdest of things...**

**Batt: I know. What the hell is wrong with me?**

**Sadee: What _isn't_ wrong with you? That'd probably be easier to answer.**

**Batt: And a shorter list, as well.**

**Anyways, enjoy this chappy!**

Gun. Loaded.  
Safety. Undone.  
Johnny, holding the small gun.  
Laura, chained to a wall in his basement.  
The look in her eyes. It made his skin itch. Not because those eyes behind glasses glared at him in anger, they didn't plead with him, they didn't show any accusation, they weren't afraid.  
No.  
Just sad.  
Like she knew somewhere in her heart that this would happen, but was sorry it did.  
"Can you dance faster than the white clown?" She asked. "Shout louder than 'Mr. Gimmick'?"  
Quoting. The little reader, the open book, was quoting Ray Bradbury. Fahrenheit 451. A man named Faber.  
A question asked without hope of an answer.  
Fahrenheit 451. It was fitting.  
"Committing suicide. Murdering," he quoted in response. He lifted the gun and pointed it at her. "There has to be someone ready when the world blows up."  
She smiled, but the movement of her lips did not change the leaden sadness in her eyes.  
"I'll be right behind you, so don't go too far," he whispered. His finger twitched on the trigger. "I'm sorry."  
She lifted her face higher so that she was looking directly into his eyes.  
Smiled again.  
Parted her lips.  
Whispered back.  
Johnny pulled the trigger, but he heard her words.  
_"I forgive you."_

**0o0o0**

Johnny woke up.  
"What the hell...?" He muttered. "Why did I dream about something like that?"  
Sure, when he and Laura had argued the other day, he'd been slightly angry. Not even all that angry, just irritated, really.  
Not nearly angry enough to kill her.  
_-Ah, but you dream what your heart desires-_ said that hell-damned painting in that hissy little voice it had. _-Your mind is just telling you what you really want, you know-_  
_*Is it, now?*_ "I don't want to kill Laura. In fact, I don't want to kill anyone!" He shouted.  
_-That's a dead lie. Don't you want to keep that sweet little girl, that open and honest creature, in your mind forever? Your relationship with her is already gaining that sour and bitter taste of rot-_  
Jesus Fuck. This thing was starting to sound like the Doughboys.  
But it was right, at least for the latter part. In the past year that he'd known her, he couldn't remember any other instances in which they'd seriously argued. Friendly debates were one thing, and Laura seemed to love those, but the girl was an expert at backing away when even the slightest hint of an altercation seemed to begin to rear it's ugly head.  
The only reason she hadn't done so the other day was because he'd backed her into a wall.  
_-Feeling sad, Nny? Need and escape? You should take her with you. Run from this life and take as many others with you as you can-_  
"No," he quietly replied. "I won't do that."  
Laura would forgive him for killing her. She was that kind of person, so forgiving of everyone but herself.  
But she would never forgive him if he killed himself.  
_-Such a strange little girl-_  
Finally. Something they agreed upon.

**0o0o0**

I was dreaming. I realized that immediately. How?  
Well, Anatarian was sitting in front of me, freed from it's canvas.  
It looked bored.  
I sat down in the anemone in front of it and watched a cluster of white clown-fish swarm away. In that strange, dreamy way we were sitting beneath the surface of the ocean, but there was no water anywhere besides the small pool by Anatarian's clawed feet. I wanted to speak, but my dream hadn't given me a mouth. Instead, I pointed at Anatarian in a question. It lifted one corner of it's upper lip, revealing sharp teeth, in what my dream told me was an ironic smile.  
I didn't know why it was ironic, though.  
My dream also told me that Anatarian was female. Huh.  
"You're too big hearted," she told me. "That's always gotten you into a world of trouble, and the world is holding even bigger trouble for you in the future." Her voice was soft and liquid, soothing even.  
I shrugged, trying to convey through that gesture that I really couldn't help being how I am.  
"No, I suppose you can't," she agreed, shaking her head. "You're just not built that way."  
I nodded and shifted my position on the anemone. Little tingles ran up my legs. I waved my hands in small circles, trying to ask what the point of this dream was.  
"There isn't really a point to this at all," replied my canvas-less painting. "Your mind needed a break and you were feeling depressed about Johnny. A small break from life and reality is quite relaxing sometimes, no?"  
I shrugged again, kind of getting what she was saying.  
"So take a break. Just for a little while. Forget the world and everything in it and...relax."  
I felt as though a huge weight was lifting from my shoulders...  
...then another weight crushed my legs.  
My eyes snapped open.  
"Dammit, Laura, do you know how long I've been trying to wake you up?" Demanded Mercedes. "It's 7:30 and we have a lecture to get to in an hour. Plus we all need to get into costume! Well, you're actually the only one not in costume already, strangely enough." Mercedes was dressed up as some creepy gothic doll, wearing my old black-lace dress.  
I pushed her off of my legs. "I'm not going anywhere today," I said. "I'm taking the day off."  
"Whaaat?" She exclaimed. "But Lace and Tahn are dressed up all creepy twin geisha like- dammit, I can't tell 'em apart- and you have that bad-ass spidery outfit all set up."  
I shot her a tired glare. "I'm taking a free-day today. I feel like Krap, and make sure you capitalize that 'k' in your mind."  
She bit her thumbnail and stood up. "Okay, I'll go and tell the twins," she said. "I'll pull down some food and shit for you to eat later if you get hungry."  
I pulled the covers back over my head. "Thanks, Goose," I murmured.  
"No prob. Even a person like you needs a break from the festivities once in a while."  
I heard the door to my room close.  
/wHaT's ThE mAtTeR, lAuRa?/ Asked Firo. I groaned and shoved my head under a pillow. "Shut up and leave me alone, Firo. I'm not in the mood."  
The back-pack didn't say anything more.  
I heard the phone ring in the kitchen. Lacey spoke briefly to the person on the other line. "Laura!" I heard her call. "It's for you!"  
I heard Mercedes talking to Lacey.  
Then silence.  
Sometime later I heard the front door open. "Bye, Laura!" Then it closed.  
Silence again.  
Then I drifted off into something that wasn't quite sleep, but wasn't even close to being awake.  
I liked it.  
Sometime around...noon, I think, the phone rang again. I groaned and pushed myself out of bed. "Fuck EVERYTHING," I grumbled. I shuffled my way to the kitchen, my eyes half-open, and got to the phone just as it stopped ringing.  
"Well, that's fucked up," I muttered. I then picked up the water bottle and snacks Sadee had left for me, walked to the living room, ate, and fell back into my stupor while sitting in my comfy chair.  
Where I remained for a good day-dream or three.

**0o0o0**

Johnny put down the phone and stared at it for awhile. Lacey had told him this morning that Laura was out of it today, then asked him to call her around noon.  
_"That should at least wake her from whatever trance she's in,"_ she'd told him.  
She'd then asked him to call again after about an hour.  
_*Why should I be doing this?*_ He asked himself.  
Because Mercedes was in school.  
Because Johnny could.  
Because he wanted to talk to her over the phone, like they did when they first learned of each-other's existence.  
One hour later, he picked up the phone and dialed the familiar number.  
_rrrrrriiing-rrrrrrriiing_  
_rrrrrriiing-rrrrrrriiing_  
Cli-ick "Hello?"  
He cleared his throat. "Laura...?" He asked hesitantly.  
He heard her take a breath. "Johnny? Hey, what's up?"  
He heard he pull up a chair. "Johnny?"  
He shrugged. "Nothing's going on, really. Mercedes told me that you were kind of...out of it today."  
She chuckled. "Yeah, I've been down with the gally-mopes today. Not too bad, but enough to make me stay home."  
"Would you like to come down to the park and hang out?" He found himself asking.  
"Johnny, it's raining."  
He looked out his window. Water was pouring down in sheets outside. Huh. When did that start?  
"But..." She started. "Do you think you could take me to the library? The weather's making me stir-crazy."  
Right, she'd told him once that she got hyper in the rain. Maybe that was what had gotten her moving at all.  
"I could do that," he replied. He felt like he owed her for the argument the other day. "I'll stop by in about ten minutes. Just..." He paused and sighed. "Just don't go and run off when we get there, okay?"  
She chuckled again. "Okay, fine. I don't think I have enough energy to go running off, anyways."  
They were both silent.  
"Uh, well," she stuttered. "I'll see you in ten, then. Ciao."  
He nodded. "See you."  
He hung up.  
"That girl can be so...confusing," he murmured.  
Then he grabbed his coat.  
_-Bye-bye, Nny-_ whispered the vile painting.

**0o0o0**

When he finally pulled up in front of the library with Laura, it was still raining buckets. They had to run inside to avoid getting soaked.  
Once inside, Laura tugged on Johnny's sleeve and pointed at the stairs that lead to the basement. She was strangely sedate, giving off the image of a mouse. This image what emphasized by her size and dark hair.  
He nodded and they walked down the marble steps to the least crowded place in the entire library. Still shuffling slightly, the small girl lead him to the corner of the library that he and Mercedes had found her just a few days ago. There was a group of overstuffed chairs set around a small table piled with books, and Laura immediately sat herself in one close to the wall. She slipped off her shoes and curled up with her arms around her legs, like a small child. Johnny sat down in the chair across from her.  
They just sat there quietly for several minutes, Laura looking at her knees and Johnny looking down at the table.  
"...I'm sorry," she murmured.  
Johnny looked up. "For what?" He asked. "You didn't do anything."  
She shook her head. "I made you mad the other day, right? I hate it when I upset people..."  
Johnny sighed. "That...wasn't all your fault, you know," he replied. He slouched in his chair slightly. "I don't even know why I started that argument in the first place."  
"Yeah, but it didn't exactly stop me from pissing you off. I _hate_ arguing with friends, I really do. It reminds me too much about what it was like back home." She loosened up slightly and let one leg dangle off the chair.  
He shrugged. "I was having an off day; I think a part of me was looking for anything to snap at." Which was true.  
She laughed at that. "So then we're both at fault, eh?"  
He chuckled. "Yeah, I guess," he agreed.  
Laura picked up one of the books on the table at random and began thumbing through it. "He knows all the answers. Fun is_everything_," she said vaguely.  
Something in Johnny's mind twitched at that. "...are you quoting something?" He asked.  
She nodded. "Yeah. I dunno why, but I just felt like saying that. Have you read Fahrenheit 451? It's one of my favourite books."  
Johnny shivered slightly. "Yeah, I've read it. A good book about a world in which books are burned."  
Laura smiled. "Yeah. Liquid fire, mechanical hounds, fire-fighters that start the fires, now _that_ is and interesting read." Then she shivered too, but probably from a different reason that Johnny. "That world..." she murmured. "What a terrible world..."  
Johnny nodded in agreement. "Would you become a book for that world?" He asked, remembering the men in the end who explained how they 'became books'. "What book would you become?"  
Laura's smile broadened. "Well, that's a bit hard to answer. There are so many books..."  
And they discussed which books they would want to save if they had to live in a world like that of Fahrenheit 451.  
And the day passed by.

**0o0o0**

Thursday. This day would be interesting, let me tell you.  
"Laura! Where's your peace medallion?" Called Mercedes.  
"It's in the bag with my mom's hippie stuff! I thought I already gave that to you?" Then I spotted it on my dresser, next to my hat. "Wait, I got it." I tossed it to her.  
"Thank you, Goose," she said.  
"You're welcome, Goose," I answered.  
"Hey Laura, help Tanya do up my hair right," called Lacey. I sighed and helped Tanya curl Lacey's hair just right. We'd just finished curling Tahn's hair 5 minutes ago.  
"Aaaand...done!" Tanya exclaimed. "Perfect! You look like you just stepped out of a time-machine from the 50's!"  
Lacey looked Tanya up and down. "And you look like you just got off from the 30's. Not bad."  
Mercedes slung her arm across my shoulders. "Hey, dudettes, we look sweeeeet..." she drawled.  
I smiled. "Tie-dye suits you, Goose. You should where colour more often." She was dressed up as a hippie, tie-dye, headbands, sandals and all. Oh, and the peace-medallion from my mom. Lacey had on this 1950's style black-and-white polka dot dress, and Tanya was dressed in this kind of smooth sleeveless dress.  
"Are we ready to head out, Madam Mafia?" Joked Lacey.  
I laughed. "Almost."  
I grabbed my black fedora from the top of my dresser and placed it on my head. "Okay, _now_ I'm ready. Let's head out!"

And boy oh boy, was that day fun.


	8. And in other news

**Hey-o! I'm bored, and here's the next chappy! Enjoy!**

_"…and in other news, there have been some reports of two subjects that have escaped the intensive care ward of the local insane asylum. These people are mentioned to be unarmed yet very dangerous. Police are warning extreme caution…"_  
I looked at Mercedes. Grinned.  
"He did it..." I whispered.  
She grinned back. "Ye-hessssssss..."

**0o0o0**

Lacey straightened her suit-skirt. "Do you think I look..._devilish_ enough?" She asked.  
I handed her the purple pitch-fork. "Thank you, servant," she said, taking it from me.  
I stuck my tongue out at her. "I'm not your servant today, Lace. I'm a free maniac!"  
She chuckled. "Yeah, you and Mercedes are _free_ today...Oh, today's going to be _sooo_ much fun..."  
I tugged at the straps of my jacket. "This thing is actually really comfy, ya know. Oh! Are you and Tahn going to explore more today?"  
She shrugged. "I guess, but we'll be back tonight. Just...don't get into too much trouble, okay? I mean, Sadee is covered in that realistic blood and everything..."  
I sighed. "Yeah, I know...we have Johnny today, so we might be okay. Might."  
Lacey sighed again. "You're hopeless..."

**0o0o0**

On the other side of town, Officer Bob sat in his partol car, listening to the irritatingly fuzzy radio.  
He stared out the window at the small red house he'd been assigned to watch. It was home to an old woman under house arrest for running down the street... Completely nude. She'd also been assigned some new medication. So far, nothing of interest had happened.  
Suddenly his radio became much clearer.  
_"…and in other news, there have been some reports of two subjects that have escaped the intensive care ward of the local insane asylum. These people are mentioned to be unarmed yet very dangerous. Police are warning extreme caution…"_  
"Finally! Something worth doing."  
He began to drive down the road in the direction of the center of town.

**0o0o0**

Johnny met Sadee and I at-be prepared to be amazed- the park of former shittiness.  
Yeah.  
"Uh..." he said when he saw us. "You guys...why are you in straight-jackets...?"  
I smiled at him. "Oh, you know...the whole day six of my wonderful 13 days." I felt comfortable around him. He'd hadn't been in any...odd...moods lately. I was glad. I really was.  
"Where are we going today?" He asked in a resigned tone.  
I looked at Mercedes. "It's your call today, mein Freund," I said.  
An evil grin slid across her face. "Well, where would we cause the most disturbance...?"  
I cocked my head to the side. "Well...I dunno."  
Her grin widened. "_The mall..._" she whispered.  
Johnny's face was crossed with a look of slight annoyance. "There?" He asked. "Of all places? What's at the mall? People. I remember once that we all agreed that we hate people."  
She nodded. "Oh, but that's exactly why we are going. Did you not see the news this morning...?"  
He shook his head. "My television is kind of...broken."

**0o0o0**

In fact, due to a random and unexplainable bout of rage yesteday, Johnny had put his big-ass steel-toed boot through the screen.  
Shit happens.

**0o0o0**

Laura sighed. "Well, your car still has radio, right? Maybe the story's still running..."  
Johnny shook his head. "Does it have anything to do with asylum patients or something?" He asked hesitantly.  
Mercedes and Laura shared a look.  
Johnny felt as though he'd hit the nail right in the head.  
Suddenly, his feelings of annoyance vanished to be replaced with a strange sensation of glee.  
"Oh, you didn't...?" He asked.  
"Oh now, _we_ didn't," said Mercedes.  
"_Thorton_ did all the doing that was required," continued Laura. "He even got us our 'authentic' straight-jackets...I just got the realistic blood from the Performing Arts class."  
Johnny shook his head again. "Sometimes I think I love this Thorton guy," he said.  
"Heyheyhey, it was _my_ idea," shouted Mercedes. "I just _happen_ to have a ridiculously rich ex-mafia lord for a step-father."  
"My idea for this costume day to begin with," added Laura.  
_*What, are these fangirls fighting for my love or something?*_  
He had a feeling that he wasn't too far off the mark.  
"We go now, eh?" Said Laura in her ridiculously childish voice.  
Johnny chuckled. "Yes, let us go and instill fear upon the hearts of the 'people'. I actually want to join in on this one, you know."  
Laura and Mercedes smiled scarily large smiles.  
_*Why, they would pass rather well as the real things.*_  
"You has a straight-jacket, den? We has no extra..." said Laura.  
It was Johnny's turn to grin creepily. "Why, as a matter of fact, I do..."  
This day...oh my, today was going to be _fun_...

**0o0o0**

The radio buzzed before reaching a stable connection.  
_"...This just in, the escapees have found an accomplice. The patient escaped a mere half-hour ago, and is described as being tall, thin, and armed. They've been spotted in the downtown area-"_ Static interrupted the report.  
"Goddamnit," Bob cursed at his radio, smaking it with the side of his meaty fist. There was a hissing sound before it erupted in a small puff of smoke.  
"...Fuck."

**0o0o0**

Johnny's straight-jacket was much like Mercedes', covered in places with fake blood. I was the only one with a clean jacket (heehee).  
"The mall, this shall be fun," giggled Sadee. I nodded. "Yeah...but...How did Thorton find out about Johnny...?"  
Johnny shuddered at the wheel. "That's...what I want to know...how many eyes does this guy have, anyway...?"  
Mercedes shrugged. "Probably a lot. After losing his family, he's really quite protective of us. Extended and non-blood relations included."  
Johnny came to a stop. "Yeah...well, look at where we are," he said. I peered out the window.  
"Eeeeeexcellent..." I said. "We have much to do, meine Freunde," I said.

**0o0o0**

We stepped in the doors. So many people did not actually see us. "What about mall secu., Goose?"  
She shrugged. "Oh, they're all in on it. Cops and employees and crap, too. This gonna be fun."  
I rubbed my palms-within the sleeves of my jacket- together. "Okees, who wants to go interrupt some annoying teenaged chittery girls in Le Gap?"  
"I do! I do!" Screamed Sadee, running down to said store.  
"Waaaaaait!" I chased after her.  
"You two can't have all the fun with this, you know!" Yelled Johnny.

**0o0o0**

Secu. at the mall...

**0o0o0**

"Hey guys, it's them!"  
The three men in the camera room all looked at the monitors.  
There were three people running around the mall wearing straight-jackets, one rather skinny man and two short girls of indeterminable age.  
One man- Mikeal- burst out laughing as a woman with a baby ran screaming from the 'lunatics'. The three 'lunatics' gladly gave chase for about 20 feet, then apparently grew bored and chased another person holding three bags of brand-name items.  
The person did _not_ drop their bags, but screamed and ran.  
"Ah man," said a woman by the name of Alice. "Man oh man, this is _great_..."  
The third person, a man by the name of Samuel, grinned and nodded. "This is better than anything I've seen on tv," he said, wiping a tear of laughter from his eyes.  
"Look!" Exclaimed Mikeal. "They're going into that photo booth now!"  
"Wait, weren't there other people in there already?" Asked Alice.  
Mikeal nodded. "Yeah, that's the best part..."

**0o0o0**

Laura pushed aside the curtains of the photo booth. "Cheeses cheeses cheeses, little pretty pretties," she said.  
Mercedes gagged at the couple in the booth. "Get off that man's lap, little slut-bag," she said, pushing in after Laura.  
Johnny grinned at the teenagers in the booth as he stepped in after the girls. "My, I _do_ hope you don't mind our intrusion," he said politely. He looked at the camera screen. "Ah, and you've already paid. Why _thank_ you, children."  
Mercedes laughed as she dragged one of them out by their foot. "Out of my closet, little cheeses," wailed Laura, shoving at the girl.  
The couple stared for a few more seconds.  
Then ran out screaming.  
"Yeah, that's right, run!" Yelled Mercedes. "Or I'll eviscerate you with my tongue!"  
Laura giggled crazily. "That's amazingness, Sadee! Ohgodthisissooooooooomuchfun!"  
Johnny nodded in agreement, true mirth shining in his eyes for the first time in ages. "This is great," he said. "I don't think I've had this much fun in a looooong time." He looked at the camera screen again. "I suppose we should take advantage of the money those _lovely_ people put in this machine."  
Laura jumped up. "Funny faces time!" She shouted.  
"Wait, nooooo!" Yelled Mercedes, throwing up her hands in front of her face.  
*FLASH*  
"Haha, yes!" Yelled Laura. "Your image has been recorded!"  
Mercedes grumbled. "Sigh...whatever, let there be pictures!" She hooked her arm through Johnny's.  
He found that he was not entirely repulsed by that.  
Laura jumped on Mercedes in a bear-hug just as the camera flashed again.  
"This is actually enjoyable," said Johnny. Laura squirmed to the other side of him and linked her arm through his other arm. His arm twitched slightly, but otherwise he was okay with it. At least she wasn't clinging off of him, like Mercedes was now.  
*FLASH*  
"That one was boring..." Said Laura. "Be weirder!"  
"OKAY!" Shouted Merceds, who climbed up onto the bench and twisted so that her head was upside-down beside Johnny's. Laura put her face _veeeeeeeery_ close to the camera.  
*FLASH*  
"Okay! We be done!" Called Laura, jumping out of the booth. "Pretty pretties, we makes the cheeses and gets the pretties, oh lovely lovelies..."  
Johnny followed after her, Mercedes walking behind him backwards with her head still tilted waaaay too far back.  
_*That girl is way too flexible...*_  
Laura was waving the picture strips in the air. "Funfunfun! More fun to be found!" She handed Johnny and Mercedes strips of their own. "Three strips is far too many for one or two..." she muttered.  
Then she dashed off.  
"GODDAMMIT!" Yelled Mercedes. "NOT A FREAKIN' 'GAIN!"  
"Laura!" Yelled Johnny. "I _WILL_ call Lacey and Tanya!"  
It did no good.  
She had vanished into the crowd.

**0o0o0**

He pulled up into the mall parking lot, hoping to see someone else on duty. Glancing around the vast car-filled hell, he saw no partol cars.  
"Fuck. Where is everybody?"  
He turned the keys and pulled them out of the ignition to go inside. Suddenly, he saw a flash of white out of the corner of his eye. Turning around, a young looking girl in a strait jacket sprinted right past him. He grinned. Looks like his day wasn't going to be boring anymore.

**0o0o0**

Mercedes' phone started to ring. "Goddammit, Laura's gotten herself into trouble, hasn't she?" She muttered.  
Johnny shrugged. "Well, she just ran off. Somebody might've grabbed her."  
Then he thought about what he just said.  
"...crap..."  
Mercedes flipped her phone open. "He-llo?" She said. "Oh hey, Thorton...oh. Sigh, I thought so. How far away is she...? Okay. I'll get Johnny to give me a ride. Thanks, Thorton." She hung up the phone.  
"Laura's at the police station, apparently," she said.  
Johnny sighed. "That girl always manages to get herself into trouble..." he muttered. "Well, come one, time to go get that troublesome girl."

**0o0o0**

I was sitting in the police station. Some..._ass_of an officer snatched me up from the front of the mall and dragged me here. I tried to tell him that I hadn't done anything, and that the jacket was just a costume, but he just laughed and said something like he didn't believe the mad ravings of an obvious lunatic.

In my defense, I do _not_ act that crazy on a regular basis.  
"Laura, you moron!" I heard. I turned around and- lo and behold- there were Sadee and Johnny.  
"Heheh..." I said. "Uh...oops?"  
The police officer grinned. "Great! Now all three of you are here, and I didn't have to do anything!"  
He grabbed their sleeves and stepped on them, much like he did to me so that I couldn't run away.  
"You're a fuckin' pussy, using such weak tactics," I muttered.  
"Shut up, loony!" He snapped. I could see Johnny trying to pull himself free, but the officer was such a fat-ass that nothing was going to make him budge but an all-you-can-eat buffet of doughnuts.  
"Hey man, off the sleeves. Don't you know about what's going on today?" Said Mercedes.  
The fatty chuckled. "Oh no, don't try to pull anything over _me_, you loony."  
"Don't worry, only a tent-tarp would fit," spat Johnny.  
"Get off of me, dumb-ass, obviously you must not be important enough for anyone to tell you what's going on," added Mercedes.  
I saw a vein bulge in the officer's...neck?  
"I'm plenty important, and I'm betting on getting a great big promotion after turning _you_ lot in," he said with a chuckle.  
"Yeah, maybe they'll give you a _real_ gun," I spat. "C'mon, man, just call up some other officers and let _them_ explain what's what. Maybe _they'll_ get through your thick skull."  
"Why you little brat..." he growled.  
"That's enough."  
We all turned around to see who had spoken.  
"Step-daddy!" Yelled Mercedes. "Tell this dumb-butt we're not _real_ lunatics!" Then she gave him an odd smile. "At least...not publicly."  
A tall man in a dark-grey suit wearing a teal tie walked over to the officer. "Officer...Bob?" He said.  
He has the _coolest_ Italian accent, by the way.  
Officer...Bob nodded. "That's me, sir," he gulped.  
I noted that Johnny looked somewhat uncomfortable.  
"These young ladies and their friend here are not, as you were made to believe, actually insane asylum escapees."  
"B-but, the radio..."  
Thorton chuckled. "Ha, well, that was a bit of a prank that we had set up for Miss Laura's Hallowe'en festivities. I had thought that all of the force knew about it, but I suppose I was mistaken."  
The look on...Bob's face...Man, I wish I'd had a camera.  
Obviously, Bob is not very important.  
"I-I'm sorry," he chocked. "I didn't know..."  
"That's fine," cut off Thorton with a wave of his hand. "Just...let them go, alright?"  
...Bob...nodded. "Fine, alright then..."  
He stepped off of Johnny and Sadee's sleeves and uncuffed me.  
Then he left.  
"Thanks, Thorton," I said.  
He nodded. "Don't mention it. Just don't let it happen again. You should probably head home now, it's getting late." He started to walk out of the room, then paused. "Oh, and it's nice to finally meet you in person, Mister Johnny C. I'm glad to see you keeping my step-daughter and her friend safe, despite your..._quesionable_background..."

**0o0o0**

_*Fuck, how much does he know?*_

**0o0o0**

Then he turned away and left.  
I sighed. "Alright, let's head out. Lace and Tahn are probably worried-ish by now."  
Johnny nodded, looking more than a little uneasy. I wonder what Thorton meant by questionable? Oh well. I really don't care all that much. He's my friend, and I hate prying into my friends' lives.  
And then we left the station, hoping to never see it again.

**0o0o0**

"Did you remind him about my derigible?" Asked Lacey.  
I shrugged. "I think Sadee did...I dunno."  
She was pulling off her pinstripe top.  
(Oh, she and Tanya had been Devils-in-pinstripe-suits today. Lace wore a suit-skirt, Tahn a normal suit.)  
(And they carried around pitch-forks all day.)  
"I'll call him again about your blimp," called Sadee from the other room.  
"My what? No, it's a _derigible_," Lacey corrected.  
"Same thing."  
"Ohohoho, but I disagree," retorted Lacey.  
I sighed. "Okay, whatever, I need to take a nap," I said. I walked off to my room and shut the door.  
Anatarian was smiling in her corner. I smiled back and pulled out the photos from the booth.  
"Hey, girl," I said. "We had a lot of fun today. I don't think I've seen Johnny have that much fun ever...I'm glad. He needs to smile more, ya know?"  
She didn't answer, but I could swear she was agreeing with me.  
Heh. This form of insanity wasn't so bad.

**0o0o0**

Johnny plopped down on his couch and crossed one leg over the other. "You know..." he said to nothing in particular. "I might just have to do something like that again.. ."


	9. Flying Pink Pimps

**...Day late? Whatevs; enjoy!**

This is an account of the next three days of the 13 Days (Saturday, Sunday, and Monday). Not much happened, so here's the abridged version.

**0o0o0**

Pink. Pink. Pink. Pink.  
Fuzzy.  
And pink.  
Boots. Half-jackets. Shirts. Shorts.  
**PINK**.  
Tanya, Mercedes, myself.  
We were all dressed in pink.

**0o0o0**

"Okay, my dear hoes, front and center!"  
The three of us in...fuzzy pink clothes... stood in a straight line in front of Lacey.  
Who was dressed as a pimp. Purple pin-striped skirt-suit, purple hat, and overly poofy purple feather sticking up from said purple hat.  
She even had the damn cane.  
"Okay, today you are all under _my_ orders. Not that that's a big difference from what it normally is."  
I shifted from one foot to the other and her head snapped towards me.  
"Stay _still_, little hoe," she commanded.  
I immediately stopped moving.  
"Now," she continued, swinging her cane in a circle. "We will all go for a walk to the park. I will strut, you will simper, and people will stare at the gloriousness that is us. Got that?"  
Tanya laughed and we all nodded.  
"Good," said Lacey. "Now, we are going to leave and enjoy our Saturday, or I'm going to bitch-slap the lot of you."  
So we left the apartment.

**0o0o0**

Johnny was at home, trying to ignore the painting in the closet.  
So far, so good.  
He'd decided that he wouldn't hang out with the girls today. They'd been draining enough yesterday...  
He picked up the strip of photos from the booth. In one, it looked like Laura was dive-bombing Mercedes. Which actually said a lot about the girl's personality.  
He wondered what they would say if they'd known that the blood-stains on his jacket had been real. Mercedes would probably find that very intriguing, but knowing Laura...well, you really _never_ know with Laura.  
He sighed and shook his head. There was a buzzing in the back of his head, the painting trying to break into the carefully reconstructed barriers of his mind.  
It was getting closer.

**0o0o0**

Up in the sky...  
Was a giant purple blimp.  
"My dirigible!" Shouted Lacey. "Thorton really got me a dirigible!"  
"See, I _told_ you he'd come through," said Mercedes with her hands on her hips.  
"Daaaaamn, that's...I don't even..." Tanya trailed off, eyes wide.  
I tugged at my shorts. I hate shorts.  
Especially pink ones...  
"Lace, can we get out of here? We've seen the enormous blimp. We can go home now, right?" I was hoping, just a little, that she'd say yes.  
No such luck.  
"E-hem," she began. "First of all, it's not a blimp, it's a _dirigible_. Second, _hell_ no. I have yet to bask in the glory that is my very own dirigible."  
I sighed. _*Well, it was worth a shot.*_  
So we spent the next three hours...'basking' in the glory of the bli- dirigible.  
That was my Saturday.

**0o0o0**

"So, you spent an hour putting on all of that," said Johnny, gesturing at Laura's costume. She was covered in strange armor, like something out of a steam-punk movie. She had a dark brown trench-coat over a black pin-striped waist-coat and pin-striped...capris? Whatever those pants were that only went past the knees and not much further. Below the knees she wore bronze-coloured shin-guards and low-edged boots similar to his and her arms were covered in bracers and gauntlets.  
"Aren't you...warm?" He asked, eying the elaborate costume.  
She shook her head, eyes hidden behind thick-rimmed goggles. "My gram sent in some really light material for me to work with," she explained. She tilted her wide-brimmed hat up. "My gram's awesome that way."  
It was Sunday, and they were relaxing in the library basement. Mercedes and the twins were walking around the upper levels, Mercedes a bloodied surgeon and the twins...well, they were dressed as Siamese twins. A medical marvel, eh?  
"Hey Nny, how's the beasty painting coming along? Still not working on it?"  
Johnny nodded. "Yeah, I don't think it'll ever be finished," he said. "Some paintings are like that, you know?"  
She nodded, picking at the buckles of her shin-guards. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I hate having to put down something and not touch it again, but some things...some things just don't work out."  
_*I wish I could tell her about the reason why I can't finish it...but...no. That would make her head explode. Knowing her, no matter what I say, she'll try as hard as she can to understand what I'm going through. But she wouldn't be able to. And knowing her, she would hate not being able to understand, beat herself up for not being able to help.*_ Johnny 'hmm'd.' _*She's such an open book, so easy to read. Then again, there are some things about her that I don't think anyone will ever understand. Not even her.*_  
"Oi."  
Johnny lifted out of his reverie. "Yes?"  
"I asked you if you were working on anything else, but you were kind of out of it."  
He sat back in his chair. "I don't think I'll be able to work on anything for a while," he said. "I just don't feel like painting. Painter's Block, I guess."  
"That must suck majorly," she replied.  
He nodded. "Yeah, it kind of does."  
They sat quietly for a few minutes.  
"Nny, you said earlier that you might want to dress up on Hallowe'en," Laura stated.  
Johnny shrugged. "Yeah...the other day was very enjoyable. I had more fun that day then I've had in a LONG while. So...who knows? Ask me again on Thursday."  
The girl smiled and nodded vigorously.  
They chatted for a few more hours until Mercedes and the twins dragged him and Laura to his car to go home.

**0o0o0  
**  
I tugged at the shorts I was wearing. I tugged at the spiked collar. I tugged at the leash attached to said collar.  
"Stop tugging on everything, or I'll make the collar tighter," snapped Lacey. I kicked at the floor. Lacey was dressed in...lots of leather. So was Tanya. LOTS of leather. That showed off their boobs quite a bit.  
Mercedes had a collar and leash like mine, but she was dressed in a bikini.  
So...the twins were dominatrices, and Sadee and I...were sub-pets.  
We were sitting in the park, trying to ignore the stares of the pedestrians.  
These costumes were not my idea.  
"Can we go home yet? It's freakin' cold," I whined.  
Lacey sighed. "Fine..." she relented. "But we're only going home because it _is_ freaking/i cold out. TAHN! MERCEDES! LET'S HEAD BACK!"

And that was our very uneventful Monday.


	10. Flight of the Winged Ones

**Hey-yo! Another chappy up! Enjoy!**

Again, the next three days were rather uneventful. Here's the abridged version of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

**0o0o0**

Two grim-reapers. A samurai. Some kind of...well, Mercedes looked like she'd covered herself in henna. The patterns resembled the links and coverings of armor.  
"What exactly are you supposed to be?" Johnny asked her.  
She shrugged. "Eh, nothin' really. A henna android thing."  
One of the reapers was holding a purple scythe. She glided behind Johnny and stared out from behind her black fabric mask."So you really want to dress up for Hallowe'en, eh?" She asked, giggling.  
The reaper with a neon-blue scythe glided in behind her sister. "Good thing we already have a costume, right?"  
Johnny sighed and looked up at the sky. The stars were shining brightly without the moon. Every so often, the blimp that Thorton had given to Lacey would cross his line of sight, creating a large patch of darkness to blot out the stars.  
Laura was removing the bracers of her armor.  
_*Why wear such a hulking outfit? It's worse than the steam-punk thing...*_  
She'd been decked out in full samurai-style armor the entire day. It was a wonder that she was starting to remove pieces now, when it was colder.  
"**Hey, are you listening?**" Prodded the twin reapers.  
He shook his head to clear it of random thoughts. "Not really," he admitted. "I was thinking."  
One of the twins 'hmphed'. "We were telling you what your costume looks like," she said.  
"I don't get a say in what I'm wearing, do I?"  
Mercedes laughed. "Don't worry Johnny. I've seen it; it's not too crazy."  
Laura was struggling with the greaves of her armor now. "Goose, could I get some help with these?" She called.  
"Why don't you take of the shoes first, dummkopf?"  
"Already did that, debil."  
"Heyheyhey, no fair!" Complained Mercedes. "You know I don't speak Russian!"  
The twins continued to talk in Johnny's ears but he wasn't really listening to anyone. He felt out of place...like a fifth wheel or something.  
Which was why he normally declined invitations to hang out with all four of the girls. They all knew each-other well, and Johnny hardly knew even Laura and Mercedes. They were okay...it was just...he didn't think he could ever really get to know them as well as they knew each-other. With Mercedes, it was easy to relax around her. She was...similar to him. With Laura, on the other hand, he didn't think he could ever open up to her like she opened up to everyone she cared about, as much as she invited those people to open up to her. There were things he could never really tell those two.  
But those were things that Lacey was privy to. And possibly Tanya, as well. They didn't seem to care about it as long as what he was didn't endanger the other girls.  
Johnny sighed again.  
_*What is it with all the girls I've been meeting, anyway? It's like I've been written into a poorly thought-out novel...*_  
"Oi, I gotta go," called Laura. "It's almost eight; I gotta get to work soon."  
That explained why she was removing the armor, then.  
"I thought you were taking tonight off?" Asked Tanya. "We were going to go flying in Lace's dirigible."  
Laura shook her head. "I can't take every night off. I'm feeding four people right now, remember? I need the money. Besides, I'm taking Thursday off, so you'll get me for three days."  
She finished removing her armor and started folding the individual pieces.  
"I'll see you guys later," she said, stuffing the armor into a large bag and walking off.  
And Johnny was left with the three girls.  
_*Fun...*_

**0o0o0**

Absolutely nothing happened on Wednesday. I was so tired from my late shift the night/morning before, I ended up falling asleep and not getting up until noon.  
That was the most sleep I'd gotten in the last two weeks.  
I passed on dressing up for the day. Mercedes had dressed up as a black panther, though, and Lacey and Tanya were a white tiger and a cheetah, respectively.  
Other than that, I have absolutely what they did that day. They wouldn't tell me...

**0o0o0**

Sadee was sitting on my stomach. I don't know how she'd gotten there; I don't remember falling asleep.  
"Hey, Johnny called," she told me.  
I tried to sit up, but there was a less-than-110 pounder sitting on my stomach. "You gonna get off of me?" I asked her.  
She grinned. "I dunno. I'm kinda comfy right now."  
I growled and pushed her off of me.  
"You need to stop waking me up that way. I'll probably wake up one day and find out you've cause me internal bleeding or something."  
She stuck out her tongue at me. "You needed to get up. Johnny's coming over in about an hour and you are, once again, the only one not in costume."  
I suppose I forgot to mention that Sadee was dressed up as a vampire, black dress, specially fitted fangs, etc.  
With her unusually pale skin and dark bags under her eyes, she could've easily passed as a vamp without the costume.  
"Where are my wings then?" I asked. "My scales, tail, etc?"  
She threw a large package at me. "That's all the help you're getting, too," she said.  
"Wha...?" I whined.  
She shrugged and smirked. "That's what you get for sleeping in."  
I sighed. "Yeah, thanks a bundle, Goose," I said. "Now...out."  
She stepped out of my room and shut the door. I sighed and glanced over at Anatarian. "So..." I said to her. "You think today will be a good day?"  
She didn't respond, of course, but I got the feeling that she was just shrugging, anyways.  
I began donning my costume. By the time I was done, Johnny had arrived.

**0o0o0**

Tanya was a neon-blue spikey were-wolf. Lacey was a punky vampire. Mercedes was a classic vampire. And Laura was a...  
Well, Johnny couldn't really tell what Laura was.  
"Ooh, that came out _cool_," exclaimed Mercedes.  
Laura was some sort of...reptilian thing. She had a pair of blue-green bat-like wings somehow attached to her back, a snake-like...tail...of the same colouration that was somehow balanced out so that it didn't touch the floor, and every area of exposed skin was painted over to look like she was covered in scales. She was also wearing contacts that had been dark red with slits for pupils.  
Other than that, she was dressed in her normal clothes.  
She smiled and bowed. "Thank you, my dear goose," she replied. She turned her gaze to Johnny. "Yo."  
There are some occasions in which Laura can be described as simultaneously complex and simple. Now was one of those.  
"Okay," said Lacey. "Now that the Dragon Girl has finally left her room and displayed her costume for all present to see, I believe it is now time for Tanya and I to depart for a little while."  
"What for?" Asked Laura.  
_*Holy shit, she even has fangs. ALL of them have fangs today...*_  
"We have errands to run," replied Tanya. "Don't do anything stupid like getting arrested while we're out, got it?"  
And the punky vampire and the neon werewolf departed.  
Laura looked at Johnny and Mercedes. "Sooo..." She began. "You guys want ta watch tv?"  
Thursday was rather uneventful.


	11. Hallowe'en at Last

**A day late; oops. Hey, y'all! Hope you enjoy this chappy! Hallowe'en at last! Yaaaay!**

A single bare bulb hung from the ceiling.  
Grey cemented walls stared blankly at him from all sides.  
A strong sense of Déjà vu hung in the air like a thick stench.  
Johnny sighed through his nose, listening to the bastard ramble on about his stupid brother… What was his name? It didn't matter. The man irritated him.  
He was bound to a supporting pole in the dank basement while the girls sat in a separate room, each one tied to a separate chair. His bonds were slowly coming loose, and he fidgeted with them silently as Jetty talked.  
"But then that girl stepped into the picture. It was so much easier tracking her than you…" He rambled on, slinging his arm over Johnny's shoulder. A rage worse than any other was building up inside of him, tearing at his muscles and veins, trying desperately to escape. He attempted to throw Jetty's arm away by jerking his body, but to no avail. Instead Jetty laughed. "You can't deny that you feel something for her; for all of them. You want to keep her. This is why you want to _kill_ her. But because you won't..."  
As he said this, his face became scaly. Two small red bumps protruded from underneath his hair, slowly becoming more pointed and curved. He began to laugh as his facial structure shifted grotesquely, bones growing and shrinking, skin stretching, flesh changing color. He smiled gleefully and exposed yellowing and razor-sharp teeth. Johnny froze.  
The arm around his shoulders had also morphed.  
It now resembled that of a large, scaly, red creature's. The fingers had been replaced by midnight shaded talons.  
He had become Harajrha.  
At that exact moment, Laura walked in.  
"Ahhh… There's my little kitten," the thing hissed in it's burnt voice. It removed its arm and began to stalk over to the tiny girl. She stared up at him in shock, dropping the gun she had been holding behind her back. With an unfitting grace Harajrha lifted her into the air with his tail, brought her back to face Johnny, and squeezed her body until a rib cracked. Johnny flinched at the sound.  
"Say 'hello', Johnny. Don't be rude to your _girlfriend_," the beast snickered.  
He said nothing.  
Harajrha reached one talon over to Laura's chest and easily sliced through her clothing. A deep red stain began to seep through her shirt, dripping onto the floor and pooling at his feet. She began to scream, spitting up blood, choking on it. He clawed deeper. Now he used his entire 'hand' to dig into her chest cavity, snapping bones and tearing muscle tissue as he went. Johnny simply stared, dumbfounded and enraged. There was nothing he could do.  
The thing knew this.  
"Oh, but Johnny, you wouldn't save her if you _could_. You know I'm only doing what you cannot bring yourself to. You know you've wanted _this_…" At that he squeezed something within her body. She gasped, and he tore out her heart with a sickening gurgle of blood. "…for a long time. And you know that you'll be following her. It's the only real way to keep her, right?"  
Johnny suddenly found his restraints gone, and realized that they had been gone since Laura walked in.  
He did not move.  
He simply watched as Laura choked on her own blood, whimpered, and finally stilled.  
And Harajrha moved in toward him, claws stained with the red of her blood; the river of life that once flowed through her veins, that all creatures of flesh possessed. Red-stained ebony claws extended, reaching for him.  
And Johnny just stood there, not doing anything. He'd realized something, something he'd been trying to suppress for so long.

The thing had been right.

**0o0o0**

Dark eyes. Dark eyes hidden behind a white mask. That's all I could see of his face, those eyes.  
"Johnny, what's with the mask?" I asked.  
The mask covered his mouth, but I could tell he was frowning.  
"I'm wearing it so that I can pretend that I am not who I am," he explained.  
I tapped a foot. "What's the point of that? We know who you are, you know who you are, and the rest of the world either doesn't know or doesn't care. Or both."  
He shook his head sadly. "That's the thing. You _don't_ know who I am. Hell, _I'm_ not even sure exactly who that is anymore."  
This puzzled me and I cocked my head to the side. "How can you not know who you are? You're Johnny C., Nny, the quiet guy, the painter. You love things by Kafka and cherry Brain-Freezy."  
He nodded. "And you are Laura L., the sketch, the reader. You love books by Lewis Carrol, fantasy, and science-fiction. You also love strawberries, and for some reason, you have strong feeling for me."  
I took a step back from him, surprised. "How could you know that? I haven't-"  
"Told me yet?"  
I gulped and nodded. He chuckled grimly and took a step towards me.  
"These things you tell me," he continued. "They have nothing to do with who I am. Yes, I love cherry Brain-Freezy. Yes, I paint. Yes, I love the works of Kafka. But those things are not who I am. I did not wake up one morning from uneasy dreams to find I had become some monstrous insect."  
The dark eyes of his closed for a moment. "Sometimes, I wish I had."  
I didn't back down. "It's true that those things individually do not make you _you_," I admitted. "But the combinations of those things- all you like, all you hate, all that you enjoy doing or don't enjoy doing, the things that bore and interest you, _that_ is what makes you who you are."  
He opened his eyes again and took another step, looming over me, dark eyes burning into mine.  
"You can't know me," he murmured. "If _I_ don't know me."  
I stared up at him through my glasses. "I know all my life-lines," I told him.  
I could tell he was grinning ironically behind his mask. "Tell me...what happens when a life-line breaks?"  
I flinched. "I wouldn't let that happen," I whispered.  
He chuckled. "What happens if you can't stop it? What if, through no action or inaction of your own, now matter how hard you try to prevent it, what happens when a life-line breaks?"  
I swallowed and tried to take a step back, but I was frozen to the spot.  
"What..." I hesitated, then looked up at him, up into his sad, dark eyes of his. "What happens when a life-line, the only thing or things keeping somebody from losing themselves, is broken?"  
He sighed, sadness portrayed through the rounds of his shoulders.

"They die, of course."

**0o0o0**

My eyes snapped open in the relative darkness of my room. I looked over at the clock: 12:19.  
"Shit, I haven't even been asleep for an hour," I muttered. I sat up.  
_*Weird. I don't remember coming in here last night...Sadee and Nny must've dragged me in here.*_  
They'd done it before, after all.  
I looked over at the painting of Anatarian. Roughly humanoid in shape with a reptilian face, graceful ivory horns curved back from her head, shimmering scales in every shade of blue, lilac eyes glinting mischievously at me.  
She shuffled her wings a bit and winked at me.  
I blinked back in surprise.  
"You dreamed about him again, I suppose," she said in her quick-silver voice.  
I nodded. "It's always the same," I said. "So many dreams start off nice and normal, then..." I shrugged. "I don't know. Something bad always seems to happen in my dreams about him."  
She chuckled. "You realize that means you know more about him than your mind is telling you, right?"  
I growled and leaned forward. "But you _are_ my mind!"  
Then I opened my eyes.  
For real this time.  
I groaned and shook my head. I was sitting in my favourite chair, still dressed up in the previous day's costume.  
"Agh..." I groaned. "Remind me to never fall asleep with wings strapped to my back and a tail strapped to my butt ever again..."  
I stood up and stretched, glancing at the digital clock above the tv. 4:04 A.M.  
_*Hah. I woke up before Mercedes.*_  
I grinned as a lovely idea began to form in my mind.

**0o0o0**

"Wha...where...air..._Laura_?"  
There was a gasping Mercedes under my butt.  
"Pay-back's a bitch, isn't it Goose?" I asked smugly.  
She rolled over and I stood up.  
"Yes, yes she is..." she wheezed. "What time is it?"  
"4:30."  
"Damn, I slept in."  
"Kind of, yeah."  
"We gonna wake up the twins now?"  
I shuddered and shook my head. "No. I don't know about you, but I don't have any wish to die anytime soon."  
She swung her legs over the side of the bed.  
"Well," she said, standing up. "Shall we call Johnny and get ready?"  
I chuckled and nodded. "Sounds as good a plan as any."

**0o0o0**

"Laura, are you _sure_ that that goes on like that?"  
I tightened a strap on Mercedes. "Of course I am. I designed it." Then I looked at the diagram again. "Uh...actually, this goes up here," I said, adjusting the straps so that they fit properly.  
"Hey Johnny, have you found them yet?"  
I'd set the man digging through my closet for harnesses like the one I was helping Sadee into.  
Specifically made for the twins.  
You see, we needed the harnesses for our wings.  
"I found one of them," he answered. "What's with all this junk in here? You've only been living here for a few months!"  
I sniffed and helped Sadee slip a shirt on over the harness. "The other apartment was worse..." I muttered.  
"Only because that apartment had less space," said Mercedes.  
Johnny suddenly fell backwards out of the closet, clutching two harnesses. "That's it," he spat as he stood up. "I'm not going back in there if you _paid_ me to."  
I laughed nervously. "What, afraid of the closet goblin?" I joked.  
He gave me a look.  
I shivered. "Nevermind, nevermind..."  
Then I smiled. "Johnny, would you like to see your costume?"  
The man paled slightly.  
I could see in his mind a repeat of one thought:  
_Ohshitohshitohshit..._

**0o0o0**

As it turned out, the costume the twins had picked out for him wasn't all that bad.  
He actually kind of liked it.  
It was a simple assortment, really: a black sleeveless trench-coat with black feathers on the shoulders and collar, some stylized block fingerless gloves, nothing too extreme.  
"This isn't bad," he said, holding up the coat. "And you guys didn't have anything more...dramatic planned?"  
Mercedes shrugged and Laura shook her head.  
"Unless..." started Laura  
_*Uh-oh.*_  
"Johnny, _please_ let me paint your face!" Begged the small girl.  
"No," he said shortly.  
The look on her face was of pure devastation.  
_*Melodramatic little...whatever you are.*_  
"Oh, come on Johnny," butted in Mercedes. "She has some ideas for designs sketched out. Actually, dozens of them. You could at least take a look at them."  
Johnny sat on Laura's bed and sighed. _*Not much harm in just looking at them, I suppose.*_  
"Okay, let me see them," he relented. "If I like one, I _might_," he held up one finger. "Keyword: _might_, let you paint my face. However, I make no promises."  
Laura's face lit up slightly. "I'll go get them, then," she said as she dashed off.  
Johnny looked at Mercedes. "She doesn't keep them in here?"  
She shrugged. "I guess not."  
They waited for a minute, then heard a loud bang.  
"That...doesn't sound good," murmured Mercedes.  
Johnny silently agreed.  
Then they heard Laura let out a cry. "Don'tkillme I'mtooyoungtodie Ididn'tmeanit I'm_sooorrry!_"  
She dashed back into the room and slammed the door behind her, locking it.  
The door began to rattle and shake as something slammed against it.  
"**LAURA, OPEN THIS DAMN DOOR!**"  
"You just _had_ to wake them up, huh?" Mercedes grumbled, shaking her head.  
Laura stepped away from the door, clutching a green-covered sketch-book. "It's not like I _meant_ to..." she grumbled back.  
After about a minute more door-pounding, the twins seemed to grow bored and left. Laura sighed.  
"Okay then," she said. She held the sketch-book out to Johnny. "I got 'em."  
Johnny took the book and started leafing through it, glancing over designs drawn on featureless faces and ignoring the more..._flamboyant_ designs.  
Which was about three quarters of all of them.  
He flipped through the book for about a minute before he found one he thought interesting.  
_*This one's not too bad...*_ he thought, holding up the rough sketch of a face with small, spiraling patterns on the cheeks. The black lines trailed from the corners of the eyes and touched lightly upon the cheek-bones in asymmetrical whorls, with the left-side markings trailing closer to the jaw than the right-side.  
"I kind of like this one," he said, holding the book out to Laura.  
She glanced at the sketch. "Would you let me paint your face with this design then?" She asked.  
He thought about it, then shrugged. "Why the hell not? We're trying to have fun today, so why not?"  
Laura smiled.  
A look that made Johnny almost shiver.  
_*Just what have I gotten myself into?*_

**0o0o0**

Johnny expected to feel like a little girl's dress-up doll when Laura was finished.  
Surprisingly enough, he did.  
The coat was rather comfortable and fit him pretty good, and the gloves fit...well, like gloves.  
As for having his face painted, well...  
Let's just say he didn't hate it.  
"Ya know," said Laura. "This is actually a really cool look for you, Nny."  
Mercedes was hovering over her shoulder. "Huh. That actually looks neat," she said. "Not crazy, but not boring, either."  
_*Should I consider it disturbing that for this girl, 'crazy' and 'boring' are antonyms?*_  
"Alright, we're done here," said Laura, heading towards the door.  
Johnny and Mercedes stood up to follow. "You aren't going to put on your costumes?" He asked in a puzzled tone.  
Laura and Mercedes exchanged a glance. "**After we help the twins**," the chorused.  
Then Laura stepped out the door...  
and let out a loud yelp of pain.  
"Little pest," said Lacey.  
"Little brat," added Tanya.  
"Big head-ache," muttered Laura, clutching her head. The twins laughed.  
"**Yeah, you are a big head-ache**," they said. They looked inside the room and saw Johnny, dressed in the outfit they themselves had bought.  
"That looks really cool," said Lacey.  
"Even goes with his striped sleeves," agreed Tanya.  
"I'm gonna go get some aspirin," groaned Laura, who walked off to the kitchen.  
Mercedes sighed. "I guess I'm going to have to help the twins with the harnesses..."  
Johnny sighed and decided upon beating a hasty retreat. He stepped out of the room and walked towards the living room, pausing to take a look at Laura's handiwork in the hall mirror.  
It really wasn't all that bad.  
Normally, Laura's style leaned more towards the surreal/abstract. This, however...  
He nodded. Simple, but still odd enough to make it an interesting design.  
He sat down on the couch and picked up a book that was lying on the coffee table.  
For the next half-hour, her read about birds.

**0o0o0**

"Okay, now that we're all dressed up, let us go to my dirigible," said Lacey.  
I sighed. "Let's eat first, eh? I've been up for about two hours and I still haven't eaten."  
"That's _your_ fault," chimed Sadee.  
I threw a breakfast-sandwich at her. "You need to eat too, Goose."  
The twins set about finding something to eat for themselves. I grabbed some apples from the counter and walked into the living room.  
Johnny was sitting on the couch, reading one of my books. I sat on the arm of the couch furthest from him and held out one of the apples.  
"Hey Nny. You want one?"  
He looked at the apple in my hand.  
"Sure, thanks," he said, taking it from me.  
He eyed my costume. "So what are you supposed to be, anyways?"  
I shrugged. "A fire angel thing," I replied.  
He raised an eyebrow. "With all that blue and green?"  
I chuckled and took a bite of my apple. "Fire can be all sorts of colours, blue and green included. Sometimes it's even purple." I took another bite. "It's such a pretty element..."  
He shrugged and went back to reading.  
We ate our apples in silence.

**0o0o0**

Staring down at the city from Lacey's dirigible, everything looked so small. Every mile was visible, everything mapped out beneath us in perfect clarity.  
It was remarkable how shitty the place looked.  
"Hey Laura, what made you come to this dump for college?" Asked Lacey, who was wearing large black wings protruding from an elegant black dress.  
I shrugged, feeling my wings rub against my harness. "I wanted to get away from home, far, far away." That was the only real reason I had for coming here.  
I looked around the passenger pit. Johnny was looking down at the city on the opposite side from me with a faint look of disgust on his face. Mercedes, who was dressed as a half-angel, half-demon, was standing next to him, neither one of them talking much.  
Tanya snorted. "Well, you're definitely far from home. Weird, though. I thought you hated cities."  
I sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I do. I really hate cities. Just being in one for a short amount of time makes my elbows and knees rash over."  
I looked away from her; the neon-blue clothes and neon blue-green-orange-yellow-pink wings were making my head spin. "Lace, when are we going to touch down?" I asked.  
She glanced at the clock set into the wall. "We'll go down for lunch," she said. "So about twenty more minutes of air-time, okay?"  
I sighed and nodded. "Good, I'm getting hungry."

**0o0o0**

We had pizza for lunch. Sadee and I split a veggie pizza, Lace and Tahn had something with olives, and Nny had a single slice of a cheese pizza.  
The pizza was good.

**0o0o0**

Sometime around five o'clock, we found ourselves at the park. Kids were running around in their costumes already, and a good number were playing around at the park.  
I sighed and leaned back on my branch. "Now I'm feeling all nostalgic," I said to no-one in particular.  
"What, you miss going to school?" Asked Mercedes from her branch.  
I laughed and shook my head. "Heck no. I'm just saying. Hallowe'en was a lot more fun when I was a kid."  
"Didn't you go trick-or-treating when you were 18?"  
I laughed some more. "Yeah. That was the best Hallowe'en of all my teen years, I have to say."  
I suddenly felt very energetic. "Hey Goose, I think I'm gonna go run around for a bit, okay?"  
I jumped down from the tree before she had a chance to say anything and dashed off.

**0o0o0**

Johnny saw the fiery angel-thing drop from the tree and run off and sighed.  
_*That girl has way too much energy,*_ he thought, not for the first time.  
He saw the bundle of energy run past Lacey and Tanya by the swings, heard her laughing the whole way.  
Several children shrieked in fear and delight as she ran past them, laughing shrilly.  
The he saw her furn right into a very tall man dressed very formally, knocking them both down.  
_*I think I'll let some-one else handle this...*_  
"LAURA!" Yelled Lacey, who was stomping over to the scene. "You need to watch where you're going, dumb-ass!"  
She then turned and helped the man up. Johnny sat back on the bench. Lacey had it under control.  
He looked up at the sky, ignoring the world around him.

**0o0o0**

Lacey charged at me and started scolding me immediately. She then turned her back on me to address the man I'd run into.  
"I'm sorry about my friend," she said as she helped him up. "She's a bit of an idiot."  
"Gee, thanks," I said, brushing myself off. "You make me feel all special and shit."  
Lacey whacked my head. "Shut up and apologize to the man."  
I looked up at the man-  
and up  
and up  
and up  
...until I found his face.  
_*Holy hell, this guy is TALL.*_  
I bowed my head slightly. "Sorry about that."  
He chuckled slightly. "Do not worry about it," he said in an accent I couldn't place- Russian? German?  
"I wasn't exactly watching where I was going myself, so we are both a little at fault."  
This guy couldn't have been much older than me. He was ridiculously tall, maybe over 6 feet, with shaggy black hair and light blue eyes. He had an air about him that made him seem both mature and mischievous.  
The mature airs might've been because of the top-hat, long-coat, and walking cane.  
"Brother!" called some-one dressed as a scientist or something- he was wearing a lab-coat, anyways.  
"Sheesh, I thought I'd lost you," said the newcomer, panting. He was maybe half a foot shorter than his brother, but that made him close to half a foot taller than me. He was about Johnny's height, actually.  
Then I realized that I recognized the second man.  
"Zaven?" I said.  
The taller man looked at Zaven. "Do you know her, Zav?"  
"You know him, Laura?" Asked Lacey.  
I nodded. "He has two classes with me and Sadee, actually."  
Zaven pushed his glasses up his nose. "You're Laura, right?" He asked. His accent wasn't as obvious as his brother's, but it was still audible. "The loud one from drawing class?"  
I huffed and nodded.  
Zaven was almost as skinny as Johnny, I noted. His brother- whose name I still did not know- was more filled in, and instead of black hair, Zaven's was longer, held back in a ponytail and more of a very dark grey, and he had dark grey eyes.  
Also, I remember that I had, at one point, mistaken him for a girl.

...He was pretty...  
Zaven's brother shifted his weight from foot to foot. "Are you going to introduce us, Zav, or am I going to have to do it for myself?"  
Zaven grunted. "Go ahead, I'm not stopping you."  
Suddenly the man swept off his hat and gave a deep and dramatic bow. "My name, fair angels, is Xander." He straightened, placing his hat back upon his head, and gave us an amused smile. "May I ask for _your_ names? Formally, that is."  
I chuckled and bowed back. "My name is Laura, good sir," I replied. "This dark angel who was berating me earlier is my good friend Lacey. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."  
Lacey chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, even if it's because this brat doesn't look where she's going."  
I stuck my tongue out at her.  
Sadee jogged up to us. "Hey, what's going on?"  
She noticed Zaven. "Hey Zaven. What's up?"  
Zaven inclined his head. "Hello, Mercedes. Nothing much, besides my brother dragging me out of the house to run around in costume. How are you?"  
Mercedes smiled. "Well, probably better than the girl who ran into your brother."  
I sighed and started to walk off. "'twas nice meeting you, Xander. I'll leave you guys to chat."  
No-one objected, so I walked over to Johnny's bench and plopped down next to him.  
I watched Tanya on the swings for a bit, kicking herself back and forth in a bored fashion.  
I closed my eyes and sat back, rubbing my forehead. My headache was coming back.  
"Crap..." I muttered.  
"Headache back?" Asked Johnny. I nodded.  
"I'll be fine in a moment. I just need to sit back for a little while..."

**0o0o0**

About an hour later, my headache was finally gone completely. Lacey and Sadee had walked off with Xander and Zaven, promising to meet us back at the park around eight. Tanya, Johnny and I were walking through the neighborhood, talking about random things.  
Eventually, I felt myself growing hungry.  
"Hey guys," I piped up. "Let's go get something to snack on. My treat."  
As luck would have it, we were only five minutes away from a 24/7 shop. I bought all of us Fiz-Whiz and large amounts of candy. Especially gummy bears.  
I love those things.  
We ate and talked while we walked around the neighborhood some more. After some time, being true to who I am, I bumped into another person.  
"_Squeeee!_"  
I jumped back and looked down. I'd knocked over a young boy dressed as an astronaut, clutching a creepy teddy-bear. "Oh man, I'm sorry kiddo!" I said, kneeling down so I could help him back up. Nny looked over my shoulder at the boy.  
"Squee-gee!" He exclaimed.  
The boy looked terrified.  
"Hey Squee, where are your parents?" Asked Nny in a surprisingly kind voice. "Shouldn't they be taking you trick-or-treating?"  
The small boy-Squee, I guess- nodded. "Th-they were right behind me," he stuttered. "B-but somewhere, I turned around, and they were _gone!_" The boy looked close to tears.  
I frowned. "Well, they couldn't of just left, could they?"  
Johnny coughed, as if trying to shut me up.  
"Hey kiddo," said Tanya. "It doesn't look like you have any candy. We have plenty here; do you want it?"  
Squee's eyes lit up. "Y-yes, please," he said, holding out his ridiculously empty treat-bucket.  
All three of us dumped what candy we had left into that bucket, easily filling it.  
He'd stopped shaking by then and was actually smiling. "Thank you," he said shyly.  
_*Oh, he's cute.*_  
"I think I should head back home," he said. "Thanks again, headache-inducing angel girls and mister scary neighbor man."  
Then the little boy dashed off.  
I looked at Nny. "'Mister scary neighbor man'?"  
He shrugged and I let it slide.  
"Ah damn," I said, hitting my forehead.  
"What?" Asked Tanya.  
"Now we need to get more candy..." I groaned.  
Nny chuckled and Tanya let out a laugh. "True," she agreed. "Lacey wouldn't let me hear the end of it if I told her I didn't make you buy candy for her."  
I grumbled some random gibberish and we walked back to the 24/7, where I spent roughly $25 on candy. Then we walked back to the park to wait for Sadee and Lacey.

**0o0o0**

The rest of the night was relatively uneventful. We had a lot of fun scaring the crap out of teens (and occasionally adults) until about 11, at which point we decided to call it a night.  
The twins ended up forcing Johnny to keep the stuff they'd bought for him to wear (he didn't seem to mind all that much) and Sadee gave him half of the candy I'd bought for her.  
Because she didn't want to get fat.  
The girl is 105 pounds.

**0o0o0**

Two days later, Tanya left to go back to college. Lacey was taking a semester off, so she was going to stay with me and Mercedes until a little after New-years'.  
To Lacey's dismay, Tanya took the giant purple dirigible with her.

**0o0o0**

"Things are going to be quieter around here, at least for a little while."  
Johnny nodded. They were at the park, Laura on her branch in that tree she liked, Johnny sitting at the base of said tree.  
"Johnny, I just had this idea."  
Johnny looked up at her. "What? Hallowe'en in November?"  
She stuck her tongue out at him. "Of course not! Now, this might sound stupid, but why don't we have Sadee's birthday party early? Say...a whole month early? We could have a surprise birthday party for her to celebrate when she turns 18."  
Johnny raised an eyebrow at her. "Why a month early? That doesn't make sense."  
Laura shifted on her branch. "Well, her birthday's so close to Christmas, she doesn't really get all that much time to celebrateher day of birth before- bam! Everyone else is celebrating the birth of Christ. In theory, anyways..."  
Johnny nodded. "Well, then that does make sense, I suppose. And with Mercedes, it's not like it would be a huge crazy party." He thought about that last part. "Well, it wouldn't be a big party, anyways."  
"So you'll help me set things up then? Distract her while I set things up?"  
Johnny shrugged. "Sure, I guess. But even a month early, that party wouldn't be for another three weeks."  
The small girl shrugged back. "Three weeks can go by awfully fast sometimes..."


	12. Slight Depression

**Hey-yo! Sorry about this being...one whole day late. Yeah, lots goin' on...blah blah blah...enjoy!**

One week after Hallowe'en...

**0o0o0**

Saturday. Haah...a lovely morning off from all the crap that goes on in the world...  
I glanced at the clock. 11:30.  
Oh. Morning is almost done. Crap.  
I quickly got out of bed and got dressed.  
_*I've been sleeping more and more lately...*_  
I walked to the kitchen and snagged an apple to fill my belly. There was a lack of something in the apartment, but I could quite place my finger on it...  
Then I smacked my forehead. "The tv's not on! Sadee must still be in bed..."  
I decided to let her be for a little while; it wasn't unusual for her to stay up until four in the morning, then sleep the rest of the day away. I told myself that if she wasn't up by 2, I would wake her up myself.  
I took a bite of my apple as something 'pinged' in my head.  
_*She better be up before then. We're supposed to hang out with Johnny today!*_  
I wondered briefly where Lacey could be, then shrugged that off.  
_*She's either sleeping or hanging out with Xander again.*_  
She'd been doing that a lot in the last week.  
I walked into the living room and sat in my favourite chair.  
___*Appletofinish appletofinish appletofinish_*

**0o0o0**

At about a quarter to one, I got bored with reading and watching the telly, so I decided to try to wake Sadee up. I knocked on the door. "Mercedes?"  
I didn't hear anything from the other side.  
"Mercedes, get outta bed already! It's almost two in the freakin' afternoon! I thought we were supposed to hang out with Johnny today?"  
I waited for her to respond for about five minutes. Nothing.  
I sighed and decided to go inside. I was getting a little worried...  
I opened the door and turned the light on. "...Sadee?"  
I saw the lump under the covers that was obviously her. "What are you still doing in bed?"  
She shifted under the covers. "Go _away_, Laura."  
This surprised me. "What? Why? Are you okay?" I walked over to the bed and sat at the edge.  
She paused. "I'm fine," she muttered. "I'm just really tired."  
I snorted. "But you've been sleeping for ages, debil! Come on, get up." I pulled the blanket off of the bed. In the dim light I could see dried tear-tracks on her cheeks.  
I let go of the blanket.  
"Why...why were you crying, Goose?"  
She didn't reply; she just pulled the covers back over her head.  
I was starting to worry slightly; Mercedes had told me that she would have bad days (or even bad weeks) occasionally, but I'd never actually experienced such a period before.  
"Goose, what's wrong?" I asked.  
Again, nothing.  
I sighed again and walked out of the room, turning the light off before I closed the door.  
_*I'm going to call Johnny...Maybe he'll be able to help...*_  
I could only hope.

**0o0o0**

Johnny was painting a canvas black when the phone rang. Stepping back from his anti-masterpiece, he placed down his brush and palette and picked up the phone. "Hello?"  
Laura's distraught voice bounced around his ears.  
"Johnny, can you come over now? There's something wrong with Mercedes."  
_*Ah. She sounds almost scared...*_  
Since he did care about Mercedes as a friend, Johnny agreed to drop by the apartment.  
Also, the last time he'd heard that tone from Laura, Lacey had just been kid-napped by Jetty.

**0o0o0**

After waiting for about twenty minutes, Johnny finally knocked on the door to the apartment.  
"Thanks for coming over, Nny," I said. Part of me felt like hugging him in relief, another part yelled at me for even _thinking_about invading his personal space.  
Those parts of me are constantly at war with each-other.  
He stepped inside. "What's wrong with Mercedes?" He asked. I shrugged.  
"I don't really know. She just won't get out of bed...and when I went to check on her, it looked like she'd been crying."  
This seemed to surprise Johnny. "She was...crying?" He asked quietly.  
I nodded. "Yeah, and she won't come out to eat or anything. She hasn't eaten since yesterday, and I'm really worried..."  
I started to walk down the hall to Sadee's room and Johnny followed. "It's really freaky...she told me she got like this every now and then, but I've never actually seen her like that..."  
I stood beside her door. "I went to check on her a little while ago, but..." I trailed off.  
Johnny stepped forward and opened the door a crack. After no more than a minute, he pulled his head out the door and closed it. "She'll be fine," he said. "Let's just leave her be for a while."  
I shook my head. "That really goes against my nature; I'm not built that way..."  
Johnny shrugged. "No, I suppose you aren't," he said, walking back down the hall. "But that's probably the best we can do for her."  
I hated to admit it, but I could see the truth in his words. There was nothing I can do to help Mercedes right now. In fact, anything I did would probably worsen the situation. I sighed in defeat.  
"I hate feeling so useless...makes me feel like shit, it does," I muttered, following Johnny down the hall.  
I heard him sigh in response. "It isn't exactly a pleasant feeling, now is it?"

**0o0o0**

Johnny and I spent the next few hours reading at the library. I hated, absolutely _hated_ not being able to do anything for Mercedes. It went against all of my being to just leave her be, so Johnny decided to take me to the library. Normally, being in such a wonderful place would fill me with calm, but I couldn't stop worrying about Sadee. I ended up reading the same sentence in a book about ten or twenty times before it actually sank in. I snapped the book shut. "Nny."  
Johnny looked up from his book. "What?"  
I bit my lip. "We've been here for about four hours. I think we should head back to the apartment."  
Johnny sighed through his nose. I could tell he was annoyed with me; I'd been saying something like that almost every hour.  
"I told you we should leave her be," he said once again. "We'll head back at closing time."  
I sat back down. Closing time was only an hour away; I could wait, right? Right?

**0o0o0**

One hour later, I was feeling more stir-crazy than I'd ever felt before. No, stir-crazy isn't an entirely accurate term; it was more like stir-psychotic.  
"Oi! Any of you people still down there?" Called a voice from the top of the basement steps of the library. "We're closing in five minutes! Time to clear out!"  
I immediately jumped up to go. Nny looked like he was reading the last couple sentences in his book, so I waited, ever impatient, for him to be done.  
When he finally stood up, I almost ran to the stairs ahead of him.  
It really sucked that _he_was the one with the car...

**0o0o0**

When Johnny and I got back to the apartment, imagine my surprise at seeing Mercedes watching tv in the living-room, nonchalantly eating potato chips.  
With blood on her shirt.  
"Holy shit, Sadee!" I yelled. "What the hell happened?"  
She shrugged. "Some shit-head broke in through my window and I retaliated," she said calmly. "The dumb fuck even got blood on my shirt!"  
I almost fell to the ground, but Johnny (does this a lot) grabbed my arm before I hit the floor. "He's not still here, is he?" He asked before I could.  
She shook her head. "Nah, the police carted him away about an hour ago."  
I put my weight onto my own feet and Johnny let go of my arm. "Are you alright, Sadee?" I asked, stepping over to her. She shrugged again.  
"Actually, I'm feeling a lot better than I did earlier," she replied. "I guess I just had some negative energy I needed to work out of my system."  
I pinched the bridge of my nose and squeezed my eyes shut. Johnny chuckled. "I told you she'd be better off by herself," he chided me.  
"Yeah, yeah..." I muttered.  
Then Lacey walked in. "Hey, did you know that Mercedes's window is broken?" She asked as she walked in.  
I sighed. Again.  
_*God dammit, Sadee...*_

_**Batty: We will never meet the intruder.**_

_**I suspect he was the bed-intruder.**_


	13. The Laundromat

**_*WARNING*_**

**The chappy you are about to read contains Laura dancing. This should frighten you. It sure as hell frightens me.**

I opened my eyes to the morning to hear the radio playing Eminem.  
I hate Eminem.  
Except this song.  
_*Guess who's back, back, back again*_  
Immediately, I knew I had to dance.

**0o0o0**

_Thud thud thud bap CRASH_  
"Laura, what the _hell_ are you...wait..."  
I paused long enough to see Sadee walk past me as I shook it like it was a Polaroid picture.  
Then I saw her run to the phone.

**0o0o0**

"Johnny, you _have_ to come see this!"  
Johnny could hear music playing over the phone. Along with several thuds and crashes.  
"...Do I dare ask what is going on?" He asked hesitantly.  
Mercedes laughed. "Oh god, Laura's dancing...CRAP! NO THE TV!"  
Johnny shook his head. "What...does that entail, exactly?"  
Mercedes was laughing her ass off. "Oh god...sorry, got to take a breath here. You really have to come over! This is the single most hilarious and terrifying thing you will ever see in your entire life."  
_*Should I feel worried?*_  
"I...guess I'll come over then..."

**0o0o0**

Some sort of techno music was blasting out of the apartment when Johnny opened the door. Covering his ears as he entered, he looked around...  
He saw Lacey and Mercedes sitting in kitchen chairs with ear-plugs in, watching Laura...  
Well, if you could call an upright seizure dancing, you'd then know what watching Laura was _almost_ like.  
But it wouldn't be even _close_ to the same hilarity as...this.  
Mercedes turned around and saw Johnny. "HEY NNY! WANT EAR-PLUGS?" She screamed.  
Johnny nodded and snatched up the plugs she threw at him.  
Lacey was still watching Laura. Laughing her ass off.  
Johnny understood why.  
After about 10 seconds of watching Laura 'dance', he, too, was laughing his ass off.  
_*Mercedes is right. This **is** the single most hilarious and terrifying thing I have ever seen.*_  
She spun around did something like a split. It looked like she was stumbling, but she never did fall over.  
Then the music stopped. And she did fall over.  
The three onlookers removed their ear-plugs.  
Looking up from the kitchen floor, she saw Johnny and frowned.  
"When did you get here?" She asked, picking herself up from the floor.  
He shrugged. "About two minutes ago." He chuckled. "Is that how you really dance?"  
Lacey and Mercedes laughed and Laura shrugged. "That is, indeed, how I dance. 'tis fun, I must say."  
_*Still think it looked like an upright seizure.*_  
"I just woke up this morning feeling incredibly hyper," she went on to say. "I...hold on a sec."  
Then Laura, being Laura, ran out of the apartment and proceeded to run around the building.  
Johnny looked at Mercedes and Lacey and pointed at the door. "What...do I even..."  
Lacey chuckled. "Oh, that was _nothing_. You should've seen her in high-school."  
For some reason, that simple phrase put the image of Laura dressed as a Japanese cartoon character jumping out windows into his head.  
It was as amusing as it was frightening.

**0o0o0**

After 10 minutes running around the apartment building, I finally returned to the apartment. To see Mercedes loading clothes into plastic bags.  
"What are you doing...?" I asked, a little out of breath.  
"We _need_ to have a laundry day _today_," she snapped. "Johnny said he'd give us a ride to the laundromat." She tied off the bag. "I took the liberty of cleaning up the dirty clothes on your floor. You'd better thank me in the form of something shiny later."  
I sighed. "O-kayyyy..." I looked around. "By the way, where _is_ Johnny?"  
Mercedes chuckled. "He's looking at the damage from last week. Oh, we still need to fix the window..."  
I closed my eyes. "Urgh...we do...Agh, I _hate_ cities..."  
Mercedes tossed a bag at me. "Stop being such an island-girl; the whole damn world might as well be one big city."  
I shrugged around my bag of clothes. "Yeah, I guess. Oh, where's Lacey?"  
Mercedes shrugged back. "That's a good question...she left only about a minute ago."  
I sighed again. "Okay, let's get this trip over with...I guess."  
As if right on cue, Johnny stepped right up behind Mercedes. My eyes widened. "Johnny...it seems you have sensed my summoning of thee." He gave me a look, something like a cross between amusement and a 'what the fuck?' face.  
"What are you talking about now?" He asked.  
I shook my head. "Haaah...nichego, nichego..." I muttered. "Let's...let's just go."

**0o0o0**

_At the laundromat, Laura got bored.  
That is never a good thing. But it is always amusing._

**0o0o0**

Mercedes looked around. "Hey Johnny, where'd Laura go?"  
Johnny looked around as well. Nothing. "How the hell did we lose her in such a small place?"  
Mercedes slapped her fore-head. "I need to put a tracking chip in her arm or something...God dammit, Laura..."  
Johnny sighed. "This happens too much..."  
"I know, right?"  
They spent about two minutes looking for Laura in the laundromat. At one point, Johnny looked up at the fourth-leveled dryers.  
Peering out from one of the open dryers was Laura.  
"Laura, what the hell..." he started.  
Mercedes walked over to him. "Oh, you found ohmyjeezus..."  
Laura waved. "Hey guys. Took ya long enough."  
Mercedes put her hands on her hips. "Laura, get out of there. NOW."  
The bespectacled girl stuck her tongue out at the younger girl. "I don't think so. Not yet, anyways. It's comfy in here." She shifted into what may have been a more comfortable position in the dryer.  
"Laura. Get out of there, or I swear to all that I hold dear I _will_ turn it on with you in it."  
Laura narrowed her eyes. "You. Wouldn't. Dare," she challenged.  
Mercedes responded to this by shutting the dryer door on Laura's face. "Johnny, do you have a quarter?" She asked, holding out a hand.  
Johnny smirked. "As a matter of fact," he started, pulling a quarter from his pocket. "I just so happen to have one quarter right here." He dropped it into Mercedes's hand.  
_*This should be good.*_  
Laura sat calmly until Mercedes inserted the coin into the machine. "Wait..." she said, her voice muffled by the door. "You really _are_ serious, aren't you?"  
Mercedes nodded. "Oh. I'm serious." She let her finger hover just millimeters from the 'On' button.  
Laura looked at Johnny. "You're not going to just...?"  
She must've seen the look of great amusement on Johnny's face, because she stopped mid-sentence. "Okay, okay! Goose, let me out! I'll come out!"  
Johnny and Mercedes exchanged a look.  
"Do you think we should?" Asked Mercedes.  
Johnny raised an eyebrow. "I don't know. I think it would be positively _hilarious_ to watch her bounce around in the dryer. She might learn something, even."  
Laura glared at them. "You guys suck..."  
"Well, Johnny. I think she _wants_ us to turn on the machine. What do you think?"  
Laura was starting to freak out a little. "Come on, please let me out, guys! I promise to try not to do any more stupid shit! At least for the day."  
Johnny shrugged. "I dunno. A day doesn't seem like all that much. What do you think, Mercedes?"  
Mercedes shrugged back. "Yeah, I'm not buying it."  
"Okay, a week. I'll try not to do any more stupid shit for a week. How's that sound?"  
Mercedes tapped her chin. "Hmmm...maybe..."  
Johnny laughed. "Alright, Mercedes. A week for Laura? That's a pretty damn good deal."  
She sighed. "Oh-kaaaaay..." she relented. "Let's let her out, then."  
Johnny opened the door to the dryer and Laura shakily climbed out and jumped down. "You guys are horrible sometimes," she hissed.  
"Only because that's the only way to deal with you," countered Mercedes.  
*Ping!*  
Mercedes stretched. "And now our laundry's done. I guess we can head back now."  
Laura nodded. "Yeah, let's get our stuff and head out."

**0o0o0**

"You climbed. Into a dryer."  
I nodded.  
"You have to be the most idiotic person I've ever met."  
I frowned. "Lace, that's a bit harsh, don't you-"  
She whacked the back of my head. "You couldn't have done all that when I was around? God, that would've been hilarious!"  
I sat in my chair. "Well...you left before we did," I replied lamely.  
She huffed and plopped down onto the couch. "Jeez, I miss all the funny shit that goes on around here. Damn everything..."


	14. Through the Eyes of Mercedes

**This was originally written for the real-world version of Sadee. So...Well, enjoy this chappy, y'all!**

***Edit*: Note, Phonecall/Broken Red were originally created to be entirely plot-less. So, if you notice that the 'plot' is missing, please keep it to yourself. It was entirely intentional.**  
**  
**  
So I had to find a way to get Mercedes out of the apartment. Well, Johnny was helping with that. I (I mean Lacey) had enlisted the help of Xander and Zaven with setting up for the party. Xander seemed thrilled to help, and Zaven...well, Zaven didn't show enthusiasm for anything, really. And Lacey...she was shopping.  
It's what she does.

**0o0o0**

*_Mercedes's point of view from here on..._*

**0o0o0**

I walked out of my room at around noon-ish 'cause my stomach was making enough noise to wake the comatose (or the dead, if you prefer) to see Laura. Just standing in the kitchen.  
She had this look on her face. It's hard to describe; it was like a mixture of smugness and worry.  
Weird combination, right?  
"Why hello there, Goose," she said, crossing her arms. "I need you out right now."  
This surprised me. "What?" I said. "You want me out...where?"  
Laura sighed. "Out. Anywhere. Go hang out with Johnny or something."  
This _really_ surprised me. Laura rarely kicked me out for any reason. Now I was suspicious.  
"Why...?" I asked slowly, walking around her and into the kitchen.  
She turned to follow me. "Well, I kind of wanted to have some peace and quiet while I worked on one of my projects," she replied.  
What the hell. Laura normally _enjoyed_ having somebody around to critique her work as she worked on it. Plus, the quiet thing made no sense. She'd have music blasting as loud as it would go when she worked.  
Earplugs are useful little things when you live with this kind of person.  
I picked up an apple and turned to face her again. "What are you working on that requires quiet?" I asked. "That's not like you, goose."  
She shrugged and picked up an apple herself. "I know. But this is something that I'll actually _need_ some quiet to work on. I don't want any distractions."  
I tilted my head. "Can I at least see what you've got done so far?"  
There was a knock on the door. Laura looked relieved.  
"That's probably Johnny," she said, literally pushing me to the door. "Why don't you go and hang out with him for a few hours? Eh? Eh?"  
I took a step away from her. "What are you, Canadian?"  
She opened the door. "'Huh' sounds ridiculous. I can say 'eh' if I want to." She turned to face Johnny.  
Okay, let me explain one thing: I had absolutely no problem with chilling with Johnny for a few hours without Laura, but with all of her shoving...well, I was curious.  
I poked Laura. "Hey, I don't want to leave until you tell me what you're working on," I pestered.  
Laura cast an imploring look at Johnny and he sighed.  
Then he grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the apartment.  
Now I _knew_ something was up.  
"Yo, Nny, let me go! She's being evasive!" I complained. "Laura's _never_ evasive! What the hell is going on?" I finally ripped my arm free from his (surprisingly strong) grasp.  
Johnny sighed through his nose, then rubbed his temple. "If I tell you, Laura will pester me about it endlessly," he muttered. "I promised I wouldn't tell you, and I'd like to think I'm a man of my word."  
I narrowed my eyes at him. "So I'm going to have to wait, huh?"  
Johnny nodded and started walking towards his car. I noted that he was wearing that coat from Hallowe'en, minus the feathers and stuff. It looked really cool, actually.  
"Mercedes, come on."  
I ran after him. "Will you at least give me a hint as to what Laura's doing?" I begged.  
Yeah. I begged.  
Curiosity is a persistent little bastard.  
Johnny unlocked his car. "What's the point of telling you now?" He said. "You'll find out soon enough, anyways."  
I sighed. "But...when is 'soon enough'?" I was feeling more than a little impatient as I stepped into the car.  
Johnny shrugged and turned the key. "As far as I know, 'soon enough' should actually be in...say, five or six hours." He glanced sideways at me. "Do you think you can wait that long?" He asked with a touch of humor in his voice.  
I sighed again. "Well, it's not like I have that much choice in the matter, now do I?"  
He chuckled and started to pulled away from the apartment. "No, I'm afraid not."

**0o0o0**

"There was this time when some random asshole came up to me and Laura and started bitching us out," Johnny was saying. "He just came out of nowhere and starting insulting us." He shook his head. "I don't know why people would go out of their way to do that. I mean, we don't exactly fit the common man's definition of 'normal', but we're still people."  
I nodded. The prejudice of humanity was one of my favourite discussion topics. That and insanity.  
"It got to the point where Laura just ended up screaming at the guy. Now, I knew before that the girl could get loud, but this..." He shrugged. "She was really angry. I'd never seen her so mad."  
I chuckled. "I have. Some old fuck was hitting on me a few years ago. She went completely _batshit_. Yelling about how people like him should castrate themselves and a lot of really funny shit."  
Johnny laughed at that. He was doing that more and more often. I liked his laugh. It was a good kind of laugh.  
"She cares a lot about her friends," he added. "Sometimes it's a little _too_ much though. After the bastard ran off, she started crying. I don't think I've ever seen her cry before."  
"I have. We were watching Edward Scissorhands."  
He rolled his eyes at me. "Well, _besides_ that."  
"Did you do anything? To the asshole, I mean."  
He seemed to hesitate. "Well...no," he replied. "I thought about it. I thought about just...taking a knife to the man and slipping it into his stomach. Of confronting him for what he did. I thought about cutting into him, of making him cough up blood. Then...then when I got sick of the noise, I though about just slipping my blade right between his ribs and ending it."  
I listened intently. Johnny was a magnificent painter, taking the words of this pitiful language and weaving them in such a way as to paint each image in the eyes of my mind.  
I might've felt worried if I hadn't felt the same about so many assholes in my own life. So many people out there that just seemed to make it a point to turn everyone else's lives into living hell.  
I can remember clearly at least one example that I had had to spend almost all of my life with.  
While in my reverie, my cell-phone started to ring. I brought the phone up to my ear.  
"Hello, this is the Hell Pizzaria," I said. "We serve a damned good pizza, we must say. How may I help you?"  
_"Wha..? Goose, it's Laura. You can come back to the apartment now,"_ said the voice I recognized as Laura's. _"Get your skinny butt over here! Oh, and bring Johnny!"_  
I hit the end button and looked at Johnny. "We've been summoned."  
He raised an eyebrow at me. "'Hell Pizzaria'...?" He asked.  
I shrugged. "Hey, _I_ thought it was funny."  
He shook his head and we headed back to his car.  
Now I get to see what the hell Laura was up to this whole afternoon.


	15. A Very Happy Unbirthday

**NOTE: You should really wait to read this until it's dark. Trust me. You'll love me for it.**

Okay, so let me explain what we had done while Johnny was distracting Mercedes: a slight re-cap.  
We had completely taken apart the living room.  
And turned it into a GIANT rec-room.  
(Or rumpus-room. Whatevs.)  
What we did was pretty much take _all_ the blankets and pillows we (Lacey, Xander, Zaven and myself) owned and...turned the living room into a party room.  
You jealous yet?  
Well, we also had a circular table (provided by Xander) set in the middle of all this shittery. With a cake.  
Oh. Yeah. Now I _know _you're jealous.

**0o0o0**

So, I gave Mercedes that phonecall to come back to the apartment. The four of us (us girls and them guyz) set ourselves up behind the ridiculously positioned couch and waited.  
Xander turned to look at me. "When exactly do you think she shall…?"  
I shrugged. "I can't tell ya, Xan. I bet-"  
"He-llo?"  
Ah. That was Mercedes. Xander and I exchanged excited glances. Lacey and Zaven just sighed. I heard Mercedes and Johnny step into the room.  
"Uh…Laura…? What the fick…?"

**0o0o0**

Johnny and Mercedes walked into the ridiculously pillow-fied room. All of the normal furniture was pushed up against the walls and the television was MIA.  
"Uh…Laura?" Said Mercedes, looking around confusedly. She looked at the floor, covered in a large number of random pillows and blankets. Then she took a look at the table. With the cake in the center. "What the fick…?"  
Suddenly, two and a half overly excited creatures (and one and a half not-so-excited creatures) jumped out from behind the couch. "HAPPY UN-BIRTHDAY!" Those creatures shouted.  
Xander (one of the excited creatures) gave a small smirk to Mercedes. "And please do not use such language. It does offend my ears."  
Mercedes just stared. And Johnny along with her.  
"This is what you were doing while I was…_un_-birthday? What the heck, Laura?"  
Johnny pinched the bridge of his nose. _*This is what they've been doing, huh? Never underestimate Laura again…*_  
Laura and Xander (and kind of Lacey, not so much Zaven) were exuberantly piling random gifts on top of Mercedes.  
"What the- jeesh, Laura, what the…"  
Laura gave a strange bright smile. "Well, you're not gonna be here for Christmas and your birthday, so…I'm insane, okay?"  
Johnny chuckled at that. She didn't really understand the whole concept of insanity, now did she?  
"…but yeah, let's have cake and all that wonderful wonders!" Xander was saying.  
Johnny had no idea what was in store for the night.  
If he had, he _might_ not have stayed the night…  
Like he really had any choice in the matter, anyways.

**0o0o0**

At some point during the cake-eating (really gobbling), I got it into my head to ask Xander a question that had been nagging at the back of my head since we met him.  
"Xan, I can't place your accent. Is it Russian or German?"  
Mercedes leaned across the table. "Yeah, I couldn't figure that out either," she added. "I figured your last name is German, but. Still can't figure out your accent."  
Xander shrugged. "Well, it's actually a mix of both. My mother is Russian and my father is German."  
Lacey looked up from her cake. "So were you guys born in Russia?"  
Zaven shook his head. "No, I wasn't born in Russia. Brother was born in Mother's home city Kaluga, which is in west Russia. I was born in Munich."  
Mercedes's eyes widened slightly. _*Oh right, I forgot about her Germany obsession.*_  
Then an idea popped into my head. "Oh hey, Xander? Do you know the 'Trololo' song?"  
The tall man tipped his head to the side. "Yes, yes I do. Why?"  
I grinned and saw Johnny give me a confused look. "Will you sing the 'Trololo' song?"  
Xander smiled. "Why yes, Laura. Yes I will. Ahem." He stood up and cleared his throat. "_Ahhhhhhhhhh ya ya yaaaaah ya ya yaaaah ya ya yah._"  
Mercedes and I started clapping and laughing. Johnny, Zaven, and Lacey did not get it.

**0o0o0**

"Okay!" Xander was saying. "Now that we have played with the gifts and totally and utterly consumed the cake, we are now to play fun story-telling!"  
I saw the look of fear upon Zaven's face. He looked…like somebody had threatened to rip his face off with their teeth, chew it up, swallow it, regurgitate it, and put it back _exactly_ as it was.  
"We are now to be telling…" Xander continued. "The wonderful, _wonderful_ wonders of the classic scary story…"  
Lacey laughed. "Yeah, good luck with that. I don't really get scared."  
Xander smiled at her. "Oh you do not, do you? We shall see." He giggled eerily.  
I didn't know the man could giggle.

**0o0o0**

Johnny was ridiculously comfortable. There were probably forty or fifty pillows (no exaggeration) not including bean-bag chairs and a pouf. Plus blankets from waaaaay to many places.  
It was like sitting in luxury.  
_*You know, if I didn't mind sleeping so much, I might actually sleep here.*_  
He tilted his head. _*Sleep here...with the girls and those guys...neeeever mind.*_  
Xander was saying something about story-telling. Mercedes had this look on her face. Something like a cross between a maniacal sadist and a child with an all-you-can-eat pass to a candy shop.  
It was quite frightening, actually.  
Zaven looked like he might die of fright for some reason. _*Dammit, I need to pay more attention to these little conversations they have.*_  
"So what kind of stories do you have?" Asked Laura.  
Xander smiled and Zaven gave an involuntary little murmur of fear. "Well, I have stories from Russia about Baba Yaga that my grandmother told me. I also have Blackwood Forest tales. Things like Der Großmann, kobolds, et cetera. I enjoy telling these tales."  
Zaven shuddered. "Yes, Brother, but a little _too_ much sometimes."  
Laura tilted her head to the side in the way that she did. "Der Großmann? Doesn't 'große' mean great or something?"  
Xander nodded. "Yes, actually. Or tall. I believe that here in America he is something like the creature they call Slenderman."  
"Brother, I will _kill_ you if you tell that story!" Yelled Zaven.  
_*Oho, now I want to hear this tale.*_  
Lacey leaned in close to Xander. "Now I'm curious. What exactly _is_ Der Großmann?"  
Xander's grin widened until it looked like it would literally cross from ear to ear. "Oh, my _dear_ younger brother...you _know_I have to tell it now..."

**0o0o0**

"He...has no face. That is what all that have seen him or it seem to agree upon. That, or his face is either so hideous or so beautiful that your mind just erases it from memory. He is tall, so very, very tall, with long, thin arms. Many arms, in fact. As many as he needs..."  
I leaned forward, entranced by the sound of this man's voice. It wove and rounded and curved in a way that reminded me of a silk ribbon.  
Weaving a tale about a great creature of the Dark Forest that would spirit away children that would wander too close. A shiver ran down my back.  
This guy was good.

**0o0o0**

"...and you know, lately, he's been seen in the daytime by teens and older people as well," the strange Russian/German man was saying. "We don't know what he's here for, we don't know why we see them or even why they allow us to see them, but they _are_ there. It's easy to tell. All you have to do is _know_ about them. That knowledge is a beacon, a guiding light. And they will. Find you."  
Johnny's eye twitched slightly. _*Thanks. Like I needed any more reason to crawl away from sanity.*_  
Better yet, Mercedes was grinning like a lunatic. "I kinda want to meet this Slenderman now," she said. "I don't know how, but he sounds he sounds he sounds preeetttyyyy..."  
Everyone- including Johnny and especially Laura- looked at Mercedes with concern.  
At this point she scooted back a bit and giggled manically. "Ya know, you might wanna tone it down a bit or I might just have to have a complete psychotic attack right he-are." She shrugged. "It happens sometimes."  
Laura had been scooting closer to Johnny in fear (and Zaven was currently huddled up in a little 'protection fort' of pillows and blankets) but as long as she didn't touch him...  
_*Oh crap she might just latch onto me. Bracing for impact.*_  
Mercedes took a deep breath. "Oh, but you know," she said, sounding serious now. "That story kind of reminds me of something. Her voice sounded unusually somber. "You guys haven't... Noticed anything odd about me lately, have you? Well, more so than usual."  
Heads were shaken.  
"Not really, Goose. Is something wrong?" Lacey looked over with curiousity.  
"Well... Yeah. There's been _something_ following me for a few weeks now. Or, someone."  
Laura scooted even closer to Johnny and many eyebrows were raised. Zaven tugged a blanket tighter around himself.  
"...Someone following you? This isn't going to be another 'Jetty' thing, right?" Johnny asked, feeling somewhat nervous.  
"What is a 'Jetty'?" Xander mumbled. "Are you talking about the rocky things they put around islands?"  
"Err... No. It's a long story. This is...much different." Mercedes looked at the ground. "It all started with this note I found. It was just laying there in the middle of the sidewalk, messily folded and discarded. I usually pick up trash I find on the ground, so I grabbed and unfolded it to see what I was dealing with. It said simply, 'I'm so sorry, but I can't do this anymore. I have to tell someone else. It's the only way. Her name is...'" She trailed off. "I can't say it."  
Johnny raised an eyebrow. "What does this have to do with anything?"  
"Because that _damn_ note is the reason she's following me."  
There was a painful silence, and no one dared to move.  
"I took it home, threw it away, no big deal. Totally forgot about it." A dark look came over her face. She didn't seem like Mercedes anymore. "Until it started. At first it was just a fleeting glance, seeing her over my shoulder in a mirror, in the corner of my room, outside a window. But then she got gradually closer. She would stand over me as I lay in bed. She would touch my face and speak to me when no one else was around. 'Come out and play. I'm so lonely.'"  
The way she said that... Johnny felt pinpricks go up his back and hairs stand on end. Everyone in the room seemed frozen in shock and fear.  
"But it's the worst when she smiles. Her mouth is _always_ bloody. I don't know whose blood it is, and I don't want to. Her skin is so pale, peeling off in places. Her eyes are so hollow..." She shivered as she spoke, and choked up a bit. "The last time I saw her, I asked her why. Why she was doing this to me. She grabbed my arm..." Now Mercedes pulled up the sleeve on her left arm to reveal a bloodied bandage.  
Everyone's eyes widened into saucers. Zaven looked horrified and...worried for her?  
"Oh _fuck_ Sadee, when did that happen...?" Lacey muttered.  
Laura scooched over to Johnny and held fast to his left arm, but somehow, it was more comforting for him as well.  
_*I don't know how the hell that works, but...*_  
Lacey and Xander were gradually getting closer. No one wanted to be vulnerable. Zaven just sort of huddled under his pillow fort thing.  
"Her hand cut me. It was almost like a burning sensation, but it was so, so, so cold. Now, I have to tell someone. If I don't, it'll never end." She paused and took a deep breath. "The reason she's following me, is because I know something about her that no one else does. I know her name. Because of that little note, I know her name. I'm so sorry you guys..."  
Another silence.  
"Her name is Nora."  
For the next thirty seconds, nobody moved. Then, as one: "FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"  
(Or, in Xander's case: "FFFFFFFFFFFIIIIIIIIIIIIII-")  
Then of course, Mercedes starts laughing. "Oh GOD that was great!" She cried, clutching her sides.  
Laura glared at her, just realizing she had Johnny's arm in a death-grip. "What the fuck, Goose!" She yelled. "What the hell was all that about?"  
"And what about your arm?" Asked Zaven, now pulling out from his pillow-fort.  
"Oh, this?" She replied, holding up her bloodied arm. "This is leftover stuff from Hallowe'en. It's fake." She peeled off the bandages and- lo and behold- no wound.  
"Shit, Mercedes," Johnny said. "Just what I need: _another_ reason to be paranoid out of my mind."  
Xander tapped his chin, then pointed at Mercedes. "Not bad, I must say. The delivery of the story itself was most excellent, but you used words that you wouldn't normally use in a conversation. You made it too story-like, and this was something that should sound like a topic of conversation. I give you 8 and a half points out of ten."  
Mercedes clapped. "Oh, I feel special now."  
_*And he wasn't even scared...shit, I need to reevaluate my idea of this guy.*_  
Lacey gave Xander a look. "Come on, giver her a higher score. That was scarier than _your_ story."  
Xander gave her a look. "Oh, you think so?"  
Zaven groaned. "You shouldn't have said that..."

**0o0o0**

"...why have a claw when you are not meant to kill with it? It is simple: this is not a claw of bone or keratin. This is one of pure energy. What holds energy? Light. What purpose does a claw of energy have? To steal light. And what of you holds light? Well, your soul, if legend and myth prove accurate. So...this thing steals your soul."  
Suddenly Xander lunged at Zaven and wrapped his hand around his neck, pulled hard with his other hand. Zaven's mouth popped open in a silent scream...  
...and a little blue light was slowly drawn from his mouth.  
Xander sat back. By now, Mercedes and I had both grabbed on to Johnny.  
And now we all stared at Xander.  
He smiled. "Vas?" He juggled the light in one hand. "It's only a magnet."  
I let out a sigh. "Man oh man..." I felt cold all the way through. Zaven had...I think he'd fainted after the whole 'soul-stealing' thing.  
I didn't blame him. I was scared shitless myself.  
In fact, I wasn't going to leave that room until it got light out again.  
Xander yawned. "Well, it looks like we should get some rest now," he said. "Little brother has fallen asleep."  
Scratch that. Zaven _had_ fainted.  
I looked up at Johnny. Somewhere on his face, I could see the combination of terror, disbelief, and paranoia that probably was reflected upon my own face. _*Shit. Even Nny's all freaked out. The world might as well EXPLODE.*_

**0o0o0**

Johnny looked at the four sleeping figures (and the one unconscious figure) and sighed. Mercedes and Laura had fallen asleep clinging to him. Rather tightly, actually. He couldn't pull out.  
_*And shit, I'm starting to drift off, too...shitshitshit I reeeeally don't want...*_  
That thought went unfinished. Johnny had fallen asleep.


	16. The Light of the Eyes of the Dead

**Hello, all! Please enjoy chappy 16! Oh, and once the month of June is over, I'm going to take a bit of a hiatus: I won't post again until sometime in August. I hope you enjoy the next three chappies, 'cause you'll be waiting a while for chappy 19. Love y'all!**

**~BattyKatt**

The light in the eyes of the dead. That was contradictory though, wasn't it? The eyes of the dead hold no light. What was it he was seeing, then?  
An afterglow, perhaps.  
There, dark eyes shining from behind glasses. That man.  
"Oh hello there, Johnny," spoke the red creature behind the dead, the creature Laura had named Harajrha. "Do you remember this one?" It reached its claws around the dead man. "Do you remember how he died? How you _killed_ him?" It asked.  
That man. One of those that did not fear death. Or rather, didn't care. Vargas, or something like that.  
And yes, Johnny remembered.  
How could he forget?  
Harajrha smiled at him. "Ah, so you _do_ remember this one. Hah, then maybe..." It dragged an ebony claw through the torso of the dead man. "How that contraption deep in your basement tore him to shreds, like so many before."  
There was a sickening crack as the demon cut through his neck, and the head of the man once known as Vargas turned to look at Johnny. Well, that was how it appeared, but it was really just rolling around on the floor, detached from its body.  
Johnny looked up at the creature. "Is that all?" He asked, eyebrow raised. "I have no reason to fear the dead, now do I?"  
This remark only made the crimson monster stretch its foul grin literally from ear to ear. "Why, I'm _so_ glad you asked," it rasped in that ashy voice of its.  
From somewhere behind it stepped another deathling.  
White as a corpse, as she was in life. The one with eyes like Laura's. Or would it be the other way around?  
That girl with the deep brown eyes.  
"What is her name, Johnny?" The creature rasped at him. "Do you even remember?"  
Johnny froze. Of course he did. Her name was-  
Wait. No, no he didn't.  
"What was my name, Nny?" asked the deathling. "I want to know what it was."  
"And have you forgotten mine, too?" A brunette stepped forward as well. This one had green eyes and a mouth like a beautiful porcelain doll. "Do I mean so little?"  
"No, you meant a lot to me…" _Meant_. Again, he could not place a name to her face. They both stared at him for what seemed like hours. His mind worked overtime, trying desperately to relay the days- possibly weeks- he'd spent with the girls. Nothing came.  
More people began to appear before him. Deathlings. _Decaying_ people. Each one claimed to have known him, yet each one was painfully nonexistent in his memory. They crowded toward him. Harajrha began to laugh.  
Suddenly there was sharp pain in his stomach. He gasped. One of the girls- the one with the green eyes- had stabbed him with his knife. Fresh blood stained the front of his shirt.  
"Do you remember _this_?" She scowled. "Remember killing me? Us? Do you remember WHY YOU DID THIS?" She screamed at him. The others moved closer, each one now armed. They cut him where they had scars of their own.  
The one with Laura's eyes moved toward his throat.  
"What's my name, Johnny C.?"  
Johnny shook his head. "I don't remember. I don't remember. I can't. I can't remember. I-"  
Something shone bright in his face. Light. Sunlight.  
"Hey."  
Johnny turned his head to the side. Mercedes was sitting on a bean-bag chair and drawing something. He could faintly make out the frame of a pair of glasses and a few lines of dark hair penciled on the page of the black sketch-book.  
"You must've been having one hell of a nightmare, there," she said. "You were so scared it was making _me_paranoid. I almost tried to wake you up. But you know..." she shrugged. "You don't sleep all that much; I thought I'd leave you be."  
He groaned. "Gah, I hate sleep...you really should've woken me up," he grumbled. He tried to sit up and found that something heavy was clinging to his arm. Something like a small girl.  
"That was the other reason I didn't wake you up," said Mercedes. "I couldn't figure out how to wake you and not wake her."  
Johnny shook his head and sighed. "Goddammit...and she has one hell of a grip on my arm, too..."  
He'd fallen asleep. And he'd dreamt. Anytime he'd slept lately, he'd had some strange nightmare or another._*Fuck...what the hell is going on in my head now?*_  
He scooched himself back so that he was sitting with his back to a wall. "So...I've been asleep the whole night, then?" He asked.  
Mercedes shook her head. "Only about four hours, actually. We didn't really go to bed until two or three, remember?"  
_remember remember remember_  
He shook his head. "No, not really."

**0o0o0**

I felt something shift in that area between sleep and waking. Something like being moved over water...wait, water? No, too smooth...kind of like pillows.  
_*Oh, now I remember...*_  
I sat up and opened my eyes. I was sitting next to Johnny on the sea of pillows and blankets. Mercedes was on a beanie, sketchbook beside her.  
"Oh hi," I yawned, stretching. My ponytail had come half undone.  
_*Dammit, I hate falling asleep with my hair up...*_  
I went to fix it when I realized something.  
That thing that had shifted in my sleep.  
I turned my head to the right. Johnny.  
Mercedes chuckled. "Slow morning brain functions, eh Laura?" She said.  
I am not ashamed to admit that I squeaked a little.  
Well, then I noticed- really noticed- the black sketch-book beside her. It was thick and hard-covered, rather expensive. It had red swirls on the front and silver abstract lines on the back.  
"Mercedes..." I said slowly. "Where did you get that sketch-book?"  
She shrugged. "Oh, I dunno. Maybe..." Here she grinned. "Between a particular crazy girl's mattress and box-spring?"  
My sketch-book. The one with all of my Johnny portraits (well, there were other things in there, too...but more than half of the pages used were pics of Johnny...GOD I'm sad...)  
I stood up, finding that it was a bit hard to balance on the sea of pillows. "Mercedes..." I stood with my legs slightly apart and held up my hands with my fingers curled into themselves. "I challenge you to melee," I said in a deep and creepily gutteral voice.  
She stood up slowly, mirroring my stance. "You think you can take me, alte Dame?"  
I scowled. "Who are you calling 'old lady'?" I hissed in response.  
Johnny looked at Mercedes, then at me. Ran, ren, rin, ron, run, repeat. "What are you two doing?" He asked hesitantly.  
Mercedes grinned. "Oh, you'll see soon enough, Johnny. Have you ever seen a Krav Maga challenge before?"

**0o0o0**

Johnny's translation of Krav Maga: no-holds-barred fighting wrapped in a style-specific type of fighting.  
A.K.A. Trained street-fighting.

**0o0o0**

Mercedes stood slightly more poised than Laura, one foot back, hands up higher. Her eyes were focused and still. Her smile was... Frightening.  
"Bring it on, short one," she whispered. Laura sprang into the air like a rabid squirrel. Mercedes dodged her and latched onto an arm, landing on the smaller girls back and twisted her hand behind her. Laura wriggled a bit and rolled over, successfully tossing her away. Before he could blink they were both back up on their feet and lunging at each other. Laura actually got in a good kick to Mercedes' ribs... And immediately found a foot wrapped around her neck and pulling her to the floor.  
_*Damn, they could both kick me in the face if they wanted to,*_ he thought.  
Laura grabbed Mercedes' leg before falling over and pulled her down as well. Now the fight was on the ground.  
He looked up for a moment to see that Xander had woken up and had pulled out a handheld camera. He was laughing quietly and munching on a bag of chips that just seemed to have appeared out of nowhere as he watched. Zaven rolled over and began to wake, rubbing his eyes.  
Looking back to the girls, he saw what appeared to be a human pretzel.  
Mercedes was on her back, with Laura sitting over her. Laura's shoulders were wrapped up in Mercedes' legs and being twisted uncomfortably. He wasn't really sure how, but suddenly Laura was on the ground and being sat on. Again.  
"Done yet?" Mercedes said, grinning. Laura was panting slightly.  
"Not even close."  
There was a moment of struggle before she was freed again.  
"...What's going on, brother?" Zaven asked, looking for his glasses and pulling back his hair.  
"Laura and Sadee are wrestling. It is quite amusing, yes?" He laughed.  
Lacey, for whatever reason, had not yet awakened.  
"Wait, what?" Hes slid his small black frames over his eyes and looked around.  
Laura was sitting on Mercedes' back. For the moment.  
After a good fifteen minutes of fighting, she finally gave up. Mercedes had somehow twisted Laura's arm into a painful position, and she'd tapped out. Both of them looking somwhat tired, they flopped down on the pillows around them.  
"By the way, you can have your sketchpad back. I only drew in one page, which I removed." She smiled and handed her the book.  
"Fuck you, Goose," Laura said, panting.  
_*Remind me not to challenge either one of those two. I'd die.*_

**0o0o0**

"I can't believe that _you_," I snapped, pointing at Sadee. "That _you_, a little whisp of a sentient creature...beat me."  
"Yep! Better believe it, be-otch. We're 30-29 in my favour!"  
Johnny sighed. "You...do this on a regular basis?" He asked.  
"Well we don't _plan_ it," she replied. "It's rather spontaneous, but yeah."  
"It's good practice," I added. "We like sparring."  
I heard Lacey stirring in her corner of the living room. "Would you guys just shut the hell up already?" She snapped angrily. "There's at least one person trying to sleep here."  
She examined the chaos around her. "Uh...what happened here?"  
"YOU MISSED IT!" Shouted Xander, jumping up and down like a small child, head nearly touching the ceiling. "I have pictures LOOK!" He shoved the camera in her face.  
"Why would I-ooh, nice grapple, Sadee." She looked through the camera.  
"Thank you Lacey. Shall I demonstrate it for you on this one?" She asked, pointing at me.  
I backed away from her. "Tapped out, tapped out!" I hissed. "I'm quite done, thank you."  
"Oh..." Xander looked sad. "I wanted to see it again..."  
The next thing he knew, he was on the ground with Sadee on his chest.  
"Oh, but you WILL," she said.  
_*She's still on her adrenaline rush. Shit.*_  
He laughed.  
"What, you think you can take me, little girl?" Mercedes gave the creepiest little giggle imaginable.  
"Oh I _know_ I can take you. I may be tiny, but I know four different types of fighting styles."  
He found his arms pinned down.  
"...Not bad," He said with a smile. "But you should watch your opponent's feet more closely." With that he kicked himself into a standing position, throwing her to the side.  
Johnny leaned back and closed his eyes. He'd obviously seen enough of Sadee's scary side.  
When I looked back, they were going pretty rough. More so than I had been. Sadee looked like she was having fun. So did Xander. The height difference was painfully obvious, but she was doing well.  
Lacey started cheering Xander on and Zaven...Zaven looked...I dunno. He had this _odd_ look on his face. Hard to describe, really.  
ANYwho...after about 15 minutes of tall vs. short, short triumphed.  
Mercedes had a hold of one arm and one leg of Xander's from his back and was tugging so hard _my_ limbs started to ache.  
"GAH! Dyadya, dyadya!" He whined.  
"She doesn't understand Russian!" I called to him.  
"Vas? Okay, onkel, onkel!"  
Mercedes giggled manically. "Oh, are you sure?" She asked. "I've still got some adrenaline in me!" She pulled his limbs so close that his ankle nearly touched his wrist.  
Xander whined shrilly. "Get off, get off, go fight Zaven!"  
"Oh that's nice," said Lacey. "Sacrifice your younger brother to the female incarnation of Mars."  
Mercedes smiled evilly. "Oooooh Zaaaven..."  
There was a look on Zaven's face, a cross between 'yay, I get to fight her' and 'oh shit, I get to fight her'.  
I did not blame him. Fighting Mercedes is the most fun and terrifying thing you could ever do.  
He went down in less than 10 minutes.  
And it looked painful.

**0o0o0**

Johnny stared at the inside of his eyelids. There were thumping and squeaking sounds (yeah, Mercedes had a habit of squeaking) coming from the strange group of people in front of him, but he'd managed to ignore it. He reflected on the nightmare from that night. What could it mean?  
_*Heh, maybe I'm just going crazy again,*_ he thought, only half kidding. "Hey, Mercedes," he said. "You've got to teach me how to take down these people. Just in case."  
"Oh, and twist them like _this_?"  
Zaven let out a little whimper.  
"Come on, Sadee," admonished Lacey. "The boy's half crying in pain. Let him go."  
"Wha- huh, fiiiiine..." She let the poor boy go.  
She looked at Laura, Xander, and Zaven. "Oh...oh...I'm so sorry guys. Just...adrenaline!"  
She giggled nervously.  
Laura sighed. "Just remember, it's only 30-29 in your favour. I'll get you next time."  
And they pretty much spent the entire day just randomly sparring off and on, until the score had finally evened out to 35-35.  
Johnny just remembered that they all repeatedly winced and took a looooot of pictures.


	17. Welcoming Keith

**Oops, this was a day late; sorry! Hey, remember how I said I was goin' on hiatus? Yeah, well, I feel bad about leaving you guys out at sea, so I'm gonna post some short stories here about Laura and the gang. They'll be...kind of like fillers; things that have nothing to do with the plot but are still a lot of fun anyways.**

**Oh, and next week: I explain _why_ I'm going on hiatus. Ciao ciao, and enjoy this chappy of Broken Red!**

Ah...Fridays. I love Fridays. Friday was normally the day I hung out with Johnny, but every now and then I just liked being by myself. Those days I'd go shopping for food, or just read or paint all day. Today, I went shopping.  
We were running low on that stuff anyways.  
The sky was overcast; it had rained a bit while I was in the store, and looked like it could start raining again any minute. Not that I minded; I love the rain. But I had groceries, and I couldn't exactly stay outside with those. Oh well. That just meant I had to get home faster so that I could play in the rain.  
As I was walking, I heard a shuffling behind me. Paranoid still from events that hadn't even happened a year ago, I whipped around to see if anyone was following me. Nobody. Heart settling to a regular rhythm again, I took a breath and turned back around. Of course, me being the klutz I can be, an apple fell from the bag I was carrying.  
"Ah, shit..." I muttered, turning around to pick it up.  
Something already had a hold of it.

**0o0o0**

Johnny had just gotten a phonecall from Laura to come to the apartment as quickly as he could. Having heard no real urgency in her tone, he decided to take his time getting there. By the time he'd gotten to the apartment, Mercedes was already out of school. She, Laura and Lacey were sitting on the couch in the living room. Laura had a small toweled bundle in her arms.  
A small black muzzle peeked out over the edge.  
It kind of looked like...a puppy's nose.  
"Oh hey, Johnny," called Mercedes. "Come and look at the amazing adorableness that is in this towel!"  
Johnny stepped forward. _*Is it a puppy? I would-puppy?*_  
Laura was cuddling the bundle and Lacey sighed. "I can't believe you brought that thing back here," she was saying. "Who knows what kind of diseases it could be carrying?"  
"Hush up, she's cute," Laura snapped.  
Johnny was curious. He walked towards the girls. "Just what did you pick up, anyways?" He asked. "A stray cat? A puppy?"  
He peered down at the bundle.  
It wasn't a cat.  
And it almost wasn't a puppy.

**0o0o0**

***Flashback thing***

The thing holding my apple...was a baby raccoon. A starvling, teeny tiny raccoon baby!  
My first instinct: CUDDLE!  
But I shook my head. The li'l guy had some food; it should be fine from here. I turned back around to walk away.  
I heard the shuffling again.  
I sighed and turned back around. The raccoon baby was...following me. With the apple in its paws.  
I turned back around and started walking again.  
More shuffling.  
"Gah, how can I resist?"  
I turned around and looked at the little thing. It was soaked from the rain earlier, and it still held the apple (which was about half its size).  
It looked up at me with big dark-brown eyes.  
Now, I am an animal lover. A HUGE animal lover.  
There was no way I could resist this li'l critter.  
I put my shopping back down on a nearby bench and untied my spare sweater from my waist (the one with Sadee's blood, ya know) and picked up the adorably pitiful bundle. It didn't run away or anything; it seemed almost tame. It squirmed a little and almost dropped the apple, but it had the tightest grip around the damn thing I'd ever seen. I looked down at it. It looked up at me. Dark brown eyes mirrored dark brown eyes.  
"You wanna come home with me, little guy?"  
It stared at me. Then it gave a little chirping trill.  
I picked up my bag by the handles. "Alright, let's go home then."

**0o0o0**

So I'd brought the baby raccoon back to the apartment. Mercedes had squealed in delight over the little thing. We gave it a towel down and watched it eat its' apple in peace. And I'd gotten the idea in my head to call Johnny.  
"So..." he said. "You decided to bring a...raccoon home."  
He was confused. I couldn't really figure out why.  
Lacey...well, Lacey wasn't all too happy about my decision.  
"That thing stays in one room of the apartment. And it won't be mine," she said. "I don't want to wake up one morning with my throat torn out by this..._thing_."  
I rolled my eyes at her. "Fine, I'll keep it in my room. Happy?"  
She crossed her arms. "I'd be happier if you hadn't brought that thing here."  
Johnny looked at Mercedes. "Have they been doing this for a while?"  
Mercedes sighed and nodded. "Yeah..."  
Johnny sighed and sat in my chair.  
I held the little bundle closer to me. "She's soooo cute! How could you think that this little thing would hurt any of us, Lace?"  
"Raccoons are vicious creatures that will kill you as soon as cuddle with you," she snapped. "I don't trust that creature. Do what you want, just keep it away from me."  
"I'm kind of siding with Lacey on this one," said Johnny. "I've seen enough of those things running around in alleys to know I don't really trust them all that much."  
Lacey smiled triumphantly and I frowned.  
The raccoon stuck its nose out from the towel and sniffed around.  
"She's so little though..." said Mercedes. "Laura, let me hold her."  
I passed the bundle to her and watched her cuddle with the adorable creature inside. Johnny looked bored out of his mind. Already.  
Well, I can't have that. He was a guest, after all.  
So I turned on the television and we stared at the glowing box for the next couple of hours.

**0o0o0**

Johnny was watching the tv, but he also wasn't. He didn't really see the flashing screen in front of him, lost in thought as he was.  
That dream. The one he'd had on Mercedes' birthday party thing.  
_*remember remember remember*_  
He shook his head. It wasn't going to help him to think too much about it.  
But also...  
Lately he'd been feeling...uneasy. The strange sensation he'd had lately...it was similar to the feeling he used to have not too long ago.  
The sensation that buzzed beneath his skin whenever he took away the life of a person.  
That feeling he had before a kill.  
He was fading backwards. Losing his mind.  
But how can you lose what is already lost?

**0o0o0**

"Keith."  
Mercedes looked at me. "Keith? Why Keith?"  
I shrugged. "Think. We can't exactly call her Bandit."  
She nodded. "Yeah, that's a little cliche. But still...Keith?"  
I sighed. "Search your mind for that one cartoon from both of our childhoods. Then you shall understand."  
She thought for a moment. Then grinned. "Ah...I see what you did thar."  
Johnny had left a while ago. I didn't blame him; we didn't really have much to talk about today. Lacey left a little while afterwards to hang out with Xander and Zaven. Again, I didn't really blame her all that much. She watches a lot of exterminator tv shows, so...she really has no love for raccoons. Even baby raccoons.

**0o0o0**

At around maybe 7 o'clock that night, Sadee and I were just chilling out in front of the tv, playing with the newly named Keith.  
Then a gigantic teddy-grizzly bear came barging into the house.  
"I heard there was something cute in the apartment!" It squealed with a German/Russian accent. "Where is the cute little baby raccoon?"  
"Brother..." Zaven and Lacey came walking in after Xander, who was jumping up and down in excitement.  
Sadee started laughing like crazy. "Hey Xander. Hey Zaven. Come to see the bundle of cuteness?"  
Xander nodded and spotted Keith in her arms. He almost instantly calmed down. "Oh, it is cute..." he said. "May I hold it?"  
She smiled and passed Keith to him. He seemed ecstatic. "It's so cute! Zaven, Zav, come look at this!"  
Zaven (and Lacey) sighed. Lacey went to go sit down. "Turns out he loves animal babies," she said.  
Now Xander was cuddling with Keith.  
It was probably the most adorable thing I'd ever seen.  
"What did you name it?" He asked.  
Sadee and I looked at each-other, then looked back at him. "**Keith**," we said together.  
Zaven looked at us in confusion. "Keith? Why Keith?"  
I turned to look at him. "Well, we couldn't exactly call her Bandit."  
This just left the other three with confused looks.  
I shrugged and went to sit next to Lacey. Sadee went over to talk to Zaven...and Xander...  
Xander played with Keith.  
Lacey leaned over next to me. "By the way," she said quietly. "Xander and I are gonna go on a date in two days."  
I looked at her. "Well, it's about time," I whispered back.  
"When are you and Johnny gonna start going out?" She teased quietly. I growled and looked away.  
"He doesn't like me that way, Lace. Besides, I don't really want to be in a relationship with anyone anytime soon."  
She huffed. "Yeah, that's believable," she muttered sarcastically. "Are you saying that, even though you haven't been in a relationship for four years, you have no desire to be that close to anyone? Ever again?"  
I shrugged. "I'm not too crazy about having a love life. I'd rather be friends with people." I thought about that statement. "Wow, that sounded child-like, didn't that?"  
She chuckled. "Yeah, it really did. But you are a bit of a child most of the time anyways. And hey, if you're content with the relationships you have right now, what's the point in prodding you right now? You'll probably change your mind sooner or later."  
I shrugged. "Yeah, but hopefully my mind will stay in it's current state until at least after college."  
She nodded. "Ye-ah, that would probably be helpful, I guess." She then pointed at Mercedes, who was chatting quietly with Zaven. "I wouldn't be surprised if _he_ asked her out soon," she said. "They seem very cozy, plus they make a very cute couple."  
I chuckled. "Yeah, I agree with you on that."  
Suddenly Xander crashed into me. I don't know how, I don't know why. I just know that when 170 odd pounds of man that is made up of mostly muscle crashes into you, it really hurts.

**0o0o0**

_*Later that night, in Sadee's room*_

"Hey. Mercedes."  
She looked up at me from the bed we'd made for Keith.  
"Yes, Laura?" She asked.  
I grinned. "Xander and Lacey are going on a date the day after tomorrow."  
She raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"  
I nodded. "Yeah really."  
An evil grin spread across her face. From that look, I could tell that she had the same idea as I did.  
What fun.

**0o0o0**

Johnny felt...almost empty. Not the emptiness that he used to want. This was different. It was like...some entity had drained away what he had built up of himself, like all that he had so carefully crafted into himself had been ripped away from him, leaving nothing but a dried husk of what he had been for such a short amount of time.  
He looked at the red painting, the painting that he'd taken from some back closet as soon as he'd gotten home.  
Harajrha, or whatever it was that Laura had called it.  
It seemed to grin at him.  
-You can't seem to change what you are, can you?- It said. -It's almost like you don't even want to-  
Johnny shook his head. "Want? What ever do you mean by that?"  
He pulled up a box to sit on. "Want: that's just so...ridiculous," he said, pointing at the painting. "I am content; I have no wants."  
That ashen voice chuckled in his head. Was it in his head? He couldn't tell anymore.  
-That's not true, Johnny C- It said. -You _do_ want something; you want to kill again-  
Johnny raised an eyebrow. "I'm not quite that insane yet," he said. "I'm feeling the itches, that weird sensation, but I haven't seriously thought of killing anybody for a while now."  
-I suppose it is a little too early for me to convince you of anything right yet- the creature agreed. -I can wait, though. I'm patient. As long as you have that feeling, you _will_ kill again. It's only a matter of time, you know-  
Johnny scowled at the painting. "You can say that, but it won't happen."  
But he didn't really believe that.  
Because, as much as he hated to admit it, everything Harajrha had said was true.

**Yo! So...how many of you got the joke of Keith?**


	18. The Date

**Okay, so...I'm going on hiatus because...well, I don't have anything else typed up yet. Chappy 18 is as far as I've gotten. You're just going to have to enjoy my side Johnny stories. I think I'll include the one that Sadee typed up...maybe...oh, and just so you know: No, the joke wasn't Keef. Sadee and I were joking about not calling the raccoon 'Bandit', so we called her 'Keith'. The joke was that if you put the two names together, you get 'Bandit Keith', a character from Yu-Gi-Oh!. So...yeah, the joke was from outside of Jhonen's universe.**

TODAY. TODAY WAS THE DAY.

The day of the date, of course.

**0o0o0**

The bus driver looked at me curiously as I hopped up the steps and down the aisle, rolling her eyes as if she'd seen all different kinds of oddly-dressed people. Sadee and Zaven followed me and gave her a _*yeah, we know she's weird*_ look. I felt mildly insulted. We all moved down the rows of seats toward the back.  
As we walked by the empty spots, a pair of boys - maybe about fifteen - looked up at us and nudged one another. One of them smiled at Sadee and nodded. She ignored them.  
Zaven plopped down in a seat near the back, and I sat next to him. Sadee sat across the aisle from us, turning sideways to face me.  
"Why are we doing this again?" she asked in a bored tone.  
"I'm doing it for fun, Zaven just feels like spying on his brother, and you're...Wait, why _are_ you here?"  
She shrugged. "I didn't feel like waiting around at the apartment."  
She turned back to the front of the bus. "How long is this bus route?" She reached into the pocket of her oversized sweatshirt, most likely to get her CD player.  
"Not too long. Maybe ten...fifteen minutes?" I guessed, glancing at the torn map pasted above the windows.  
She just nodded and put her earphones on. After a few minutes she shifted over to the window, forgetting the world. She always did that in the car.  
The heat of the air vents on the bus started to get to her, and she reluctantly took off her jacket.  
One of the younger boys from the front of the bus came strolling down in our direction and took a seat next to her. He was silent for a moment before suddenly reaching over and pulling one of her earphones out.  
_*Oh boy, he shouldn't have done that.*_  
Sadee whipped around to face him.  
"...Why did you do that?"  
"I wanna listen to your music!"  
_*Oh dear shit god in the heaven loo, I pity that poor child.*_  
"You don't even know what I'm listening to. Even if you did, it's in another language." She snatched the earbud back and popped it back in place.  
He almost immediately removed it again. This time, she glared at him.  
"What now?"  
"I still wanna listen to your music," he said, smiling and putting it in his ear.  
She took it back again.  
"Go away."  
He was quiet for a few moments, but stayed sitting right next to her. She resumed listening to her music.  
However, after his brief silence, he took her earbud out _again_.  
_*This boy is a moron, eh?*_  
"Do you have a boyfriend?"  
She just sat there, staring at him in disgust. She didn't answer.  
"I bet you have a boyfriend; you're hot. Is he nice? You should let me be your boyfriend. He doesn't have to know." He spoke as if he thought he were a REAL ladies' man. She glared harshly enough to make _my_ skin itch slightly.  
"As a matter of fact, no, I don't have a boyfriend."  
Zaven looked momentarily heartened, until...  
"I have a girlfriend. I'm not interested in guys," Sadee finished with a smile.  
The boy (and Zaven) looked quite shocked (and in Zavens' case, _dis_-heartened). The boy finally shut up and she put her earphones back in, looking out the window. There was a blissful moment of silence.  
But then.  
He suddenly reached out and grabbed her. In a very inappropriate place.  
I.e. her boob.  
Sadee froze up completely.  
_*Oh shit. She. HATES. Being touched.*_  
The boy stood up and ran back to the front of the bus as fast as he could, plopping down next to his friend. I heard them talking all the way in the back.  
"Dude, I _totally_ felt up that hot les' chick!"  
Zaven's eye twitched and I felt the immense urge to _destroy everything_.

**0o0o0**

Billy felt quite pleased with himself. He had succesfully felt up that _suuuuuper hottttttt_ lesbian chick. _Her boob was soooooft_. He bragged majorly.  
"Haha, guys, that was waaaaay great!" He was saying. "You should do it next, Trevor!"  
Suddenly, Billy felt a MASSIVE malevolent aura emanating from behind him. He slowly, slowly turned around to see that other girl that had gotten on the bus with the hotttttt les' chick, the weird one with the black, green, and copper hair.  
She looked .  
He looked up.  
"Uh..." said Billy. "Are you like, that other chick's girlfriend?"  
Next thing he knew, he was lying facedown on the bus, his face pressed against some hobo semen-stains and the smallness of the piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssed girl pressing him even further into the ruts of the floor with his left arm twisted painfully behind his back.  
She leaned down over him and hissed in his ear: "If you value your life, your family, and your reproductive organs, I suggest you never do such a thing again. I will _know_. Oh," she continued. "And I'm not her girlfriend. I don't even swing that way."  
She got up.  
Walked back to the back.  
And Billy, Trevor, and whoever the fuck else they were hanging out with got off the next stop.

**0o0o0**

When I'd gotten back to the back, Sadee was sitting next to Zaven with an extremely mortified expression. I sat down across from them. "There," I said. "Problem fixed."  
Zaven raised an eyebrow at me. "Aren't you worried about somebody pressing charges?" He asked.  
I shrugged. "Eh, ya know, there are _some_pros to looking like a 12 to 16 year old."

**0o0o0**

There they were. Xander and Lacey. At this fancy German restaurant.  
And here we were. Hiding in the bushes _directly_ outside the window by which they were seated. Lacey looked lovely (and FAABuLOUS!) in a long red-and-black dress.  
Of course, the giant cleavage didn't hurt the whole image, I suppose.  
...Yes, I'm _sure_ I don't swing that way.  
Zaven began taking notes immediately and muttering things like: "Flirting, section 3, sub-section 2: Compliments and gifts..."  
Mercedes gave me this look (she had quite recovered from the bus episode). "D'oh, he's cute," she whispered.  
I nodded in agreement. "He's like a little bunny!"  
"A _nerdy_ bunny!" She added.  
I shook my head. "Nah, an _emo_ nerdy bunny!"  
We both held on desperately to our laughter.  
I turned back to the window. Lacey and Xander had not noticed our little burst of laughter (and Zaven was still muttering to himself all scientific-like).  
Suddenly, I heard the pacing of some very distinctive-sounding steel-toed boots.  
I peeked over my bush and out at the sidewalk...

**0o0o0**

Johnny was walking along, just ignoring the world as he went on his way, when a sudden blur of green, copper and black dashed out and grabbed him by the arm.  
And dragged him into the bushes.  
Without pause for thought, he slipped his other arm into his coat and felt around for the knife that he carried around.  
To remember that he _didn't_ carry around his knives anymore.  
"Nny!" Hissed the green and copper creature. "Hurry, get down they'llseeeeus!"  
Ah. He should have known: Laura. Ah, she'd changed her hair.  
"What the _hell_ was that for, Laura?" He hissed back at her, nevertheless crouching down behind the bush with her- and as it turned out, Mercedes and Zaven as well. Mercedes was sitting on the ground and listening to her CD player and Zaven was going back and forth between a pair of binoculars and a small note-pad, muttering semi-scientific sounding..._things_...under his breath.  
He looked directly at Zaven. "Um..." he began. "Zaven, what _exactly_ are you doing?" He asked.  
The grey-haired boy looked up from his notes. "It's for science! And..." he trailed off. "Well, as you _may_ have been able to tell, I have no luck with girls. And Xander...well, you can see," he finished, gesturing with his pen towards the window of the restaurant.  
Johnny looked in the direction the binoculars were pointing to see Lacey and Xander. "Ah, I _can_ see," he admitted. "And...you're taking notes?"  
Zaven flushed red. "Yes. Yes I am."  
Laura peeked over at him. "Has it helped?" She asked.  
His flush deepened. "Do you _think_ it's helped? I have no girl!"  
Johnny saw Mercedes glance up from the corner of his eye.  
_*Ah. That's interesting.*_  
"So..." he said. "What's happened so far?"  
The others gave him a collective shrug. "Nothing much, just LOTS of googly-eyes." Mercedes shuddered and gagged.  
So Johnny decided to sit back and enjoy the show, which proved to be _quite_amusing.

**0o0o0**

I don't know how it happened. One minute, Lacey and Xander were laughing about something behind their window.  
The next, they were gone.  
I looked at Zaven. "Hey Zav," I said, "Did you see where they went?"  
He shook his head, looking as puzzled as I felt. "I...I have no idea," he replied. "They...they just...they're gone."  
Johnny looked at the window curiously. "Perhaps they decided to leave," he suggested.  
"Maybe..." I said. I shrugged it off.  
Until.  
Behind me. A source of malicious and deadly force. One so familiar and still unsettling; somehow I still found it appealing.  
I shivered and slowly, _slowly_ turned to face Lacey.  
She smiled 'kindly' at me. "Oh, _hello_ you guys," she said in a honey-sweet tone. "How _are_ you all tonight?"  
I was shaking so hard I felt the bridge of my glasses t-t-t-tapping against my nose. "H-hey, Lace..." I stuttered. Zaven looked up; he seemed to be equally effected by Lacey's powerful energy.  
Sadee and Johnny, however, appeared indifferent.  
Lacey nodded to Johnny. "Hello, Johnny," she said. He gave her a small nod in return. Then she snapped her gaze back to me.  
"Might I ask _why_ you were hiding behind the bushes?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest (kind of).  
I looked to Sadee and Zaven for help. Sadee smirked and tugged at Johnny's sleeve and they backed out of the scene quickly. Zaven just seemed to be petrified.  
_*Well. He's obviously going to not be of any help.*_  
I gulped. "Well...Zaven and I were...um...Zaven was doing research and I was...well..."  
Lacey tapped her foot impatiently on the ground. "Uh-huh, go on," she prompted.  
I sighed. "Well...I was bored."  
Her stance relaxed and her paralyzing aura slowly receded. "Oh, was that it? Well, that's fine." Her smile became something slightly more genuine. "Boredom sucks, you know." She glanced at Zaven. "But...research?" She asked.  
He shook his head. "That is confidential," he replied shakily. "My research can never become knowledge to the general public."  
_*Huh. That's odd. He told Sadee and I...*_  
Lacey shrugged. "Whatever. I'll get it out of you eventually..."  
Zaven noticeably paled. And that boy's already pretty damn pale.  
I didn't blame him.  
Lacey looked about in confusion. "Hey, where'd Sadee and Johnny go?"  
I looked around myself. "That's a good question..."

**0o0o0**

Johnny and Mercedes sat quietly, sitting in the tree at the park, her listening to her music, he just watching the people walking on by.  
Living their lives.  
He thought back to that...force radiating from Lacey. It was one so familiar...and he couldn't quite say why.  
He thought about it...then:  
_*It's almost like what it felt like when I spoke to Mr. Devil...*_  
If that weren't unnerving enough, that sensation...it...it triggered him. He couldn't really explain it.  
He just knew that he had to get away from Mercedes _right now_, or who knew what would happen.  
He got up from the park bench. Mercedes looked up, but made no move to stop him from leaving.  
_-Blood-,_ he heard deep in the farthest recesses of his mind. _-You want blood-_  
Johnny ground his teeth and began to walk towards his house.

**So here begins the month-long hiatus! I'll see you all in August; have a happy 4th of July (to all you Americans out there) and various other holidays that exist in other countries! See-ya!**

**~Love, BattyKatt**


	19. Side Chapter: Johnny and 4chan

**Okay, on hiatus from the actual story, so here's a short little side-chappy for you all to read. I hope you enjoy it!**

Lately it seemed that Mercedes was glued to her computer. This was not all that abnormal, but Johnny had never seen her in such an obsessed state as she had been. He'd asked Laura to explain just what she had been so obsessed with.  
She'd notably turned several shades whiter.  
And anything that frightened Laura in such a way was automatically deemed interesting.  
So he all but wrestled the information out of her.  
As it turned out, the website that Mercedes had been obsessed with was this place called...4chan. Specifically a forum called /b/.  
What 4chan was...well, Johnny hadn't a clue. But he was dreadfully curious.  
So of course he had to check the website out.  
He sat there, in front of his computer, waiting patiently for the page to load. He absently sipped the tea that Laura had forced on him last Christmas (it wasn't all that bad; she had good taste in tea) while the logo of 4chan (a four-leafed clover) came up on the screen. He sat back and clicked on the link that Laura had told him would take him to /b/.  
He looked it over.  
Stared for a little while.  
And promptly threw his computer monitor out the window.

Later that day, he called Laura and told him what he had found...or rather, how he'd felt when he'd found it. Laura was very sympathetic with him, told him that she'd nearly reacted the same way when she'd first stumbled upon 4chan. She called Zaven over to bring him a new monitor (seeing as Johnny's was destroyed beyond reasonable recognition) and hooked him back up to the 'net. She and Xander went on to describe the other forums of 4chan, in particular /x/. Laura also taught him the wonders of the forum /k/.  
And Johnny was happy with /k/. Very happy indeed.


	20. Side Chapter 2: Living Eyes

**Okay, in contrast to the last filler chapter, this one has a more...sober tone to it. I hope you enjoy.**

Chains. This was the bindings of the world. The reality he'd come to accept. The light-weight links of whatever metal these chains were made of. This is what bound them to his reality, literally and and figuratively.  
These chains are what bound this girl to his wall.  
He knew this girl. He knew her well. So well...he would almost say he loved her. But if he loved her, would he really have taken her here?  
Ohnonono, the whole reason she was here was _because_ he loved her. It wasn't her fault, something that made her very different from the others that were here.  
She was here through no fault of her own.  
The only thing she'd ever done 'wrong', her only miss-step, was giving him the light of day.  
She looked up at him as he approached. Those eyes, those deep brown eyes. So dark that it was hard to see the pupils sometimes. Especially down here, where the light was terrible.  
He felt as though he were looking down into black wells of fear and sadness. She opened her mouth to speak. "...why?" She asked softly, her voice rasping ever so slightly.  
_Nonononononono,_ he thought. _Nonono, don't speak, don't make this hurt any more than it should._  
It struck him that that could almost be considered a selfish thought. But how was he to prevent that? He couldn't help the thoughts that came to his mind, unbidden. They upset him, however. It was a part of him that he _despised_beyond all other things. Something that made his very essence scream. He wantedwantedwantedwanted_wanted_beyond anything to tear that part out of him, more than anything he'd ever really wanted before. He wanted it _gone_.  
"Johnny?"  
Her. Her voice, her voice, .  
It made him want to scream. To cry. To laugh. To thrash about in agony.  
He loved that voice.  
He hated it for making him feel those things, those things those things those things he wantedwantedwanted to forget. Those feelings, those sensations, those _feelings_, he wanted them gonegonegone, but her voice brought them racing through him like a storm, like a wave, one so unexpected that there was nothing he could do to prevent it.  
He looked at her again. How had she ended up here? Her with the big open heart, her with that..._passion_ for life, that power to turn all that he could only see as negative things that should burnburnburn_burn_ and disappear all these things she could find something _good_ about them. And if she couldn't, she _made_ it something good.  
This girl, this girl that had smiled at him and spoken such kind words to him. That voice that made him laugh. That smile that made him smile.  
It hurt. He wanted it to _stopitstopitIdon'twantthisgoaway_  
She wouldn't go away. She cared about him, and he cared about her.  
One of the reasons he had to do this.  
The lovely terrible feelings were already starting to sour. This couldn'tcouldn'tcouldn't be allowed to happen.  
He had to make sure it didn't happen.  
He shut out the noise, he blinded himself, he picked up something from the table. He couldn't tell what. It was something that would make the pain go away, he hoped. At least for a little while.  
When he finally opened his eyes, the way eyes should really be opened, she was dead.  
No. No. No. .  
Not dead. Notdeadnotdeadnotdead.  
Just gone.  
Nononono. Not gone. He could keep her this way. He could hold her tighter this way. Those things that had soured, they were gone, ended, nipped at the bud. He had nothing to worry about. Nothing to fear, nothing to fear.  
Her blood was so red.  
Her eyes were black.  
It still hurt.  
Why? The sensation was gone. He should feel numb. His memories of her with her were so sweet, so wonderful. Why did it still hurt?  
Because he had seen.  
He had seen that agony deep inside of her, even when he tried so hard to stop from seeing it. And it wasn't even her own pain. Just his reflected back and forth back and forth back and forth between them, magnified hundreds of times before her eyes finally became as expressive as glass marbled.  
He turned away. He didn't want to look into those eyes anymore.

**0o0o0**

Not too long afterwards, maybe a year, maybe two, and he could still remember it.  
Laura had eyes just like...he couldn't even remember the girl's name anymore.  
So he never let himself look into those eyes.  
Those eyes that could make him smile laugh live through their own light. Shining light that reflected the love of those around her, that reflected the hate, the sorrow, the pain. Eyes that could tear him apart, that would make him tear her apart.  
He couldn't let that happen.  
But the gears were already in motion.


	21. Side 3: A Different Point of View pt 1

**Hello, all! Remember how in Phonecall, Laura and the gang tried to celebrate Sadee's birthday at the cemetary? Remember how that didn't really go so well? *Ahem* The real counterpart of Sadee wrote a "short" little story about that day from her character's point of view. She gave me permission to put in on FF. However, this is not necessarily part of the rest of the story, as she had her character do things a little differently than I'd've liked. Still, it makes an excellent side-story, ne? Enjoy part one of 'A Different Point of View'.**

We were walking though the dew-soaked graveyard, my vision blurred by the dense fog that seemed to seep into my skin. It was only about 5:50 in the morning. I smiled.

*_I love this place..._* I thought absently, looking around.

Laura and Johnny walked just behind me. I could feel the calmness of the place beginning to penetrate my hypomania, and I took a deep breath, trying to relax.  
Instead, I got a lungful of smoke. I gagged.  
Laura spoke up before I could.

"Hey, you guys smell that?" She sniffed the air.

"Yeah. It's gross; it smells like Ed." *_Oh God, I said his name..._* the smell was getting to me. Suddenly his face seemed to be the only thing my mind was capable of picturing. But no, not just his face. His body, tensed, yet stumbling toward me. His eyes locked on mine. Shoving his nose in close to mine, so I could smell the cigarette ashes and alcohol on his breath. He called me a bitch. Told me I was useless and stupid. He loved doing that. But then...

"I smell it, too..." Johnny's smooth voice. How long ago had he said that? My mind seemed to register it late. It slowly drew me out of my own scent-induced flashback. I heard other voices now, coming from ahead. But the bodies they belonged to were lost in the fog.

"Omigod, is that girl nuts?"

"I know; she's not wearing ANY make-up!"

"What about that fat chick? UGH! So disgusting. She's got to weigh at least 116 pounds!"  
I suddenly didn't want to be here anymore.

"And that guy! What the HELL is he wearing?"

"They all look soooo stupid; what were they thinking, coming here?"

"Weirdoes like that don't belong in a sacred place like this."

"I KNOW, right?"

*_WE don't belong here? You're smoking, dropping your filthy ashes on the graves of innocent people! And don't you DARE make fun of my friends..._* Anger pulsed through me. This is bad. My manic side leaves me extremely irritable, and Laura knows it. She's seen me go on rage fits before, seen the dented side of my book shelf where I'd punched it 'til my fist bled... Over a drawing that I couldn't get to look just right.  
Just as I'd expected, she grabbed my arm.

"Uh, Nny? Let's get out of here before we're all overcome by the urge to put those girls through a blender, one piece at a time."  
I suddenly realized that Johnny was radiating anger, which I was soaking up. Adding that to my own rage, I smiled crazily at the image her words painted across my mind. Being such a strong empath sucks sometimes. I felt Laura begin to drag me towards the car, which I resisted at first, but then gave in to. I've learned to trust her judgment when I get like this.  
Johnny, however, seemed to hesitate for a moment before following her. I sensed his brain working, but I couldn't read what he was thinking about. It was one of those things about him that interested me so.  
She managed to get me into the car. I tried momentarily to convince her to let me go. After a brief argument, she reminded me of the taquitos I'd wanted last night. My stomach growled at me in response.

"I- huh, fine... Let's get us some taquitos, then. Its mornin' and I'm hungry." I huffed and sat back in the seat of Johnny's car.

The rest of that morning went well.  
We got our breakfast at a local diner, luckily void of other humans at that time.  
As we ate, I began to describe the horrible things I would have done to those jerks, had Laura let me go at them. Hell, I had to find some way to blow off steam, right?

"Oh God... They just pissed me off so bad. The things they said about you guys, and the attitude... NO ONE insults my friends but me." Laura smiled and nodded. She knows what that's like. Johnny looked interested.  
"There sounded to be about three of them. You guys agree? About two guys and one girl. I'd walk up to one, and shove my foot down his throat. Then I'd use that human meat shoe to slap around the others for a while. After I was sure he could never speak again due to vocal cord damage, I'd rip off his genitals and tear them apart, RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIS EYES. The others would lose their eyes, one at a time. Maybe I'd take their Goddamn cigarettes and burn their retinas to a mushy pile of shit!"  
At this point Laura began to laugh like the crazy lady I know her to be. I grinned. "Ya know, it's a good thing you find this funny. If you didn't think my homicidal rage was amusing, I have a feeling you'd be terrified of me." She snorted.

"It takes a little more than a little gore-shit that rhymed- to scare me. Remember who one of my best friends is."

"Lacey, right…"

I noticed that Johnny hadn't said a word. He seemed thoughtful. Taking in what I said, and playing it out in his mind like a sick theatre. That, or he could be wondering what in the name of GOD is wrong with me. As I said before, I could never tell what he was thinking like I could with others.  
I finished off my last taquito and let the conversation move to a more pleasant-though less violent- topic.

That afternoon, I got Laura and Johnny to go see The Rocky Horror Picture Show with me. It has to be one of my all-time favorite movies. They loved it, too. At least, I assumed they did by the hysterical laughter they produced the entire time.  
Around 8pm, we went back to the apartment. Laura revealed a cake she'd made for me, black frosting with blue and purple decorative icing. It was beautiful, really. I loved it. Then there were presents. Johnny gave me some comics he'd drawn called Happy Noodle Boy. They were possibly the most hilarious things I'd ever read.  
Then Laura gave me her present, a CD of some of my favorite violin players. It was amazing. I honestly could have kissed her full on the mouth for that, but it would have been extremely awkward. So I chose not to.  
Johnny left late, around 11.

Laura soon convinced me to try and sleep, since I'd gotten us both up so early. We chatted about things for a while, until she passed out from exhaustion. After a few moments of silence, I finally felt my mania begin to wane, and I drifted off.

*_I'm at my old house? Why?_* I thought, looking around my old room. I hadn't been here since I was 14. The bed was made, neatly, the carpet still annoyingly green, my old laptop was sitting on my desk... All the same as before. I walked over toward the door, but I froze as I felt the presence returning.  
*_No. Oh God no._* My eyes opened wide. My spine tingled. My mind went numb, except for the thoughts of anger and malice the presence gave off. This was what it felt like to be terrified? I had long abandoned this emotion, learned to push it away and fill myself with numbness in its place. I tried to do so now, and succeeded, momentarily.  
*_That presence never hurt you, remember? It may have felt angry, but it has no physical body to harm you with. It's not there. Ignore it. It can't even speak._* I felt its eyes burning my skin, staring at me. I refused to look back.  
A hand on my shoulder. A man's hand. It gripped me like a steel vice and spun me around so hard my neck cracked. I cried out and backed up a step, cringing. I did not look up, but straight ahead.  
Him.  
His body. It was so much bigger than mine. I can't see his face, but I know what it looks like.  
Ed.  
He was the anger, the malice and hatred, the fear that followed me around as a kid. Even when he wasn't actually there, an invisible presence _was_, with all those emotions pouring off of it. But now, he took form there, standing in front of me.

"Look up at me, honey. I love you," he slurred. "Come here and give me a hug..." His voice got softer. "You're so pretty. My beautiful daughter."  
I still did not move.

"You're drunk again. I hate you."

"No you don't. You're just a teenager, you don't know anything. You just _think_ you hate me."  
That bullshit again. He always tried to pull that one, the 'Oh, you just hate me because you're a teenager' card. I looked up, looked him right in the eye.

"Do you really think I'm that shallow and stupid? I don't hate you because I'm a teenager. I hate you because you're a drunken ass-hat."

"What? You do NOT backtalk me! You respect me. I'm your father!" He was angry now. This made me happy inside, knowing that I'd gotten the point across. But another part of me was scared. He's violent when he's angry. I waited before speaking again.

"…No. You're not. Maybe you're my biological parent, but you're sure as HELL not my 'father'. You don't even know what it means to be a father. You don't take care of your children; you don't play with them, tell them you love them, or even cook lunch for them when Mom isn't around to do so. In fact, the only memories I have of you are of you yelling at me, or hitting me! How's that feel? You feel like shit yet?"  
I was angry, yelling at him. I felt my eyes tearing up, much to my own irritation. I hated this. All I really wanted was for him to be a normal, loving dad. Or at least, I wished he had before. Now all I wanted was for him to leave.  
Looking back up at him, I saw that I had been spot on with everything I said. He'd been proven wrong, so now he would get violent again. He was advancing towards me. I braced myself for him, just like I always used to. Everything went red, and all I could feel was pain. Everywhere.

And I heard my mother screaming for him to stop.

I shot up to a sitting position, gasping like a fish on the beach. My clothes were sticking to my body and I realized that I was drenched in sweat. I glanced around and saw Laura sprawled out on the floor, fast asleep.

*_Another nightmare..._* I thought, huddling up in a ball. I could still feel the pain in my joints and the bruises that had long ago faded. I never got much sleep, even after Mom divorced him and married Thorton. The memories always came back in my dreams. After all, dreams are images of the things in your subconscious, being displayed while you're out cold. This was the very reason I disliked sleep so much.

*_What time is it?_* I pulled out my cell phone and squinted at the teeny clock on it. 2:36 Am. "Great," I mumbled to myself. "Another night where I won't be getting back into bed." I sighed. Might as well let Laura sleep. She doesn't deserve to be woken up so early twice in a row. Going through my overnight bag, I finally found my sketchbook and pens. At least I was smart enough to bring some entertainment for myself when I was packing. I searched a few more moments before pulling out my CD player and earphones. I decided to play some music in one ear as I drew... Whatever it was I was going to draw. However, I didn't get very far before I heard a noise outside the window.

Slowly, I pulled my earphone out and set down my pen.  
I moved around the corner of the apartment, to a place where I wasn't visible from the windows. Overreacting was my specialty. Even if there isn't anything out there, I'll still be paranoid for a while.  
I heard another noise. That proved it.

*_Someone's out on the balcony._*  
I crept out along the edge of the wall, making my way to the glass doorway between the living room area and the outside. When I finally got to the edge of the door, I flattened myself up against the wall and took a breath. Everything was silent except for the sounds of someone moving around on the other side. I looked over at the lock and realized that the door was partially open. Shit.  
And the noises seemed to have turned into quiet footsteps, moving toward it. Double shit.  
I held my breath and tensed.

*_If anyone's getting in here, they're gonna regret it._  
Thin fingers wrapped around the edge of the sliding door and began to slowly push it open. I raised my arms to block my face and got into the fighting stance they taught me in my self defense classes. The gap between the door and its frame got bigger and bigger, yet the intruder didn't... Well... Intrude.

*_He couldn't have seen me. The lights are off, and a curtain is between us. So why is he staying outside?_*  
But then, one foot stepped gingerly into the room, and he froze.

*_Wait. Those shoes..._*  
Then, a voice, whispering.

"...Mercedes? Are you up?"

"...Nny? Is that you?" I saw the foot jump, and I suppose the rest of his body went with it.  
"JESUS. Fuck, don't be so quiet! I had no idea you were there!" He poked his head in the doorway.

*_Oh, it's just Johnny. What's he doing here?_*

"Oh. It's you." I let out the air I'd been holding in. "I thought you were a robber or something, and I was ready to punch you out." I moved out of my stance and started walking over toward the middle of the room, not too close to Laura's unconscious form. He followed quietly.

"Uh... Sorry about that. I was just thinking about what you said earlier... About how bad you wanted to get back at those assholes from the graveyard."  
I jerked my head up to look at him suspiciously.

"...What about what I said?" He grinned. It wasn't his usual show of happiness, though. This time I could feel something different behind it. It was frightening.

"Well, if you were serious about it... I know where they are. Right now."

"Seriously? And you're alright with me kicking the shit outta them?" Now I realized how it felt to be on the other side of that crazed grin. The expression on my face must have been amusing to him, because he chuckled darkly.

"Actually... I was hoping you'd let me help. Since, you know, I'm the one who brought you to them and all."

I nodded. "Sounds fun. Shall we?"

He motioned to the door, much like a waiter does to his guests' table. "Ladies first!"  
I walked through the door to see a tall ladder leaning against the edge of the balcony railing.

"Discrete, huh?" I laughed before throwing my leg over the metal railing and starting down. "This is gonna be fun."


	22. Side 4: A Different Point of View pt 2

**Here's the continuation of A Different Point of View by Sadee. I hope you enjoy it!**

The drive was long, and began in silence. I sat in the passenger seat of Johnny's car, for once, and I stared out the window. I always love watching the world pass by when I'm in a car… Which is why I hate tinted windows.

I thought back to my nightmare. I always felt that weird presence when I was younger… Up until the point when my mom finally got pushed over the edge and left Ed. There was a reason for that, but it killed me inside and brought on horrible flashbacks whenever I thought of it, so I pushed those thoughts away. To this day, I never understood what the presence was. That dream explained it to me so clearly that it almost seemed stupid of me to not have seen it sooner; it was him. Or at least, it was all my negative feelings toward him, all my memories of the rage and fear he caused. It was also his own horrible energy that I soaked up and tried to push away. It seemed amazing to me now, looking back, that I never once thought of turning to drug or alcohol abuse. Maybe it was because I realized that those things caused him to be so horrible. Maybe it was because I never wanted to be a problem child. I felt that if I'd done those things, he would have only been angrier with me.

*_Or maybe I'm just not as weak as he told me I am._*

"Soo… Why were you up so late? Uh… I mean, early?" His voice, once again, pulled me out of my thoughts. I hoped he couldn't see through me right now, hoped I didn't look angry, or depressed. I put on my old fake smile, you know, that mask I keep in a jar by the door.

"Oh, I just had a weird dream. It woke me up, and I couldn't get back to sleep."  
He thought for a moment.

"…I don't sleep. Ever. At least, not until I pass out from exhaustion. So I never really experience dreams." He paused. "What was yours about?"

Shit. I had no idea what to say. My mind raced to think up the strangest thing it could, just something to tell him, to avoid the topic of my family life. Apparently, it wasn't going fast enough. I hesitated. His black eyes looked over at me curiously.

"It was a nightmare, wasn't it?"  
My face had given it away. I was never good at hiding when I was scared. All the other emotions, HA, they could be brushed away like grains of sand, though they sometimes scratched me as I did so.

"…Yeah. About my dad." I looked down at my feet, and the stained carpet on the car floor.

"Thorton? I thought you said he was nice?"

"No. Not him. It was about Ed."

"…Oh."

It was quiet. I could tell that Johnny was uncomfortable talking about this. He obviously didn't talk to people much. I thought up the best lie I could to end the tension.

"It wasn't that bad, though. Just a little flashback." Okay, so it wasn't a total lie.

"…He was abusive, wasn't he?" His voice was soft now, almost like he was attempting to be sympathetic.

I froze. That caught me off guard. Though it must have been pretty damn obvious that he was, I hadn't had someone actually use that word since the annoying counselors had me sit and 'talk about my feelings'. It was so cliché.

"Yeah. It was..." I hesitated. "...Pretty bad. That's part of why Mom left him."

"…I kinda noticed your reaction to the smoke at the graveyard yesterday. Was that related?"

"He's a heavy smoker. I guess it reminded me of him too much." I decided to leave out the part about my little mental episode. "One more reason to hate those pricks, though." I smiled, thinking of the horrible things I would do to them.

*_Oh, there's a graceful way to change the subject!_* I thought. I'm good at that, sometimes.

"Speaking of those guys, where'd you find 'em?"

"Oh, they were still there. I just went and got a good look at their faces, and then I tracked them down. Before I left to get you, they were headed to the park." The last few words were saturated with irritation.

"Ugh. They're going to ruin that place for me, too?" I narrowed my eyes at the thought of them sitting on my tree branch, talking about stupid shit and leaving cigarette butts everywhere.  
Reducing the wonderfully shitty park to something that wasn't even worth turning a nose up at.

"They're going to try." He turned toward me and smiled again. That crazy smile.  
…It was contagious.

We pulled into the park's cracked parking lot minutes later.

**0o0o0**

As we approached the park, I could already smell the smoke again, and hear them talking. And laughing.

"HHAHAHAHAA Remember the look on that short girl's face? She looked like she was gonna explode!"

"I know, right? Someone's a little self-conscious."

"What a little bitch HAHA!" They all cracked up. I felt a twinge of annoyance at their stupidity.

*_I wasn't angry because of what you said about me, it was what you said about Laura and Nny._*  
The waves of irritation poured off of Johnny, just like before. I soaked them up easily, enjoying the feeling.

"And that tall scrawny guy? Oh God, he looked like the night of the living dead! PFFT-HAHAHA. What was with those chicks hangin' out with him anyways? What were they, his little whores?"

"Hahahahaha, I wouldn't be surprised. The fat one was overly made-up, and her _hair_? TOTALLY overdone."

"The scrawny one in those shorts? Just _begging_ to get herself ass-fucked."

"That guy, though. UGH!"

"Ohmygod, right? His hair was just plain wacky. It was all over the place!"

~~~~~~~ Simultaneous thought: *_Wacky? FUCK, I hate that word!_* ~~~~~~~

I looked over at Johnny to see that he was fully pissed off now. I smiled, and motioned to him to stay quiet. I had a plan.  
We slowly crept closer to the swings they were standing near. I motioned for him to wait while I snuck up behind the swing set. He pouted slightly but nodded in agreement. I walked around in a wide loop behind the swing set and went to the very last swing, opposite from them.  
I took a deep breath and began to climb the 20 foot pole to the top. I'd done this countless times before, and it was almost too easy to creep along the top until I was directly over the one who'd called Johnny 'wacky'. Lucky for me, it was extremely dark, and they were all extremely stupid, so none of them noticed me up there.

I looked over at Johnny, and he looked somewhat confused. Then my surprise attack slowly sunk in, and he had to put his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing out loud. He obviously hadn't had this much fun in a long time.  
I mouthed my words to him, hoping he would know what I was saying.

"Wait for my signal."  
He nodded. Excellent.

"Did… Did you guys hear something?" His voice was slurred. I looked closer at them and realized that they were all drinking. A flare of anger suddenly took over my entire body, and I gripped the pole so hard my fingers hurt.

"Nah, man... It's just us out here. No one even remembers this place exis-" He let out a loud burp. I felt myself making a face.

*_That's just nasty…_*  
They all began laughing hysterically at his bodily functions.

"That's totally what you said about that graveyard, dude." A female voice came from the one under me. "But those freaks showed up anyway."

I looked at Johnny, who was equally disgusted and angry. He was in position, just behind the slide, out of their view. He looked up at me, and I nodded.

*_Here we go!_*

I jumped off the pole like the God-damned Batman, straight down- right onto the girl. Up close, I noticed that she was wearing makeup like a fucking clown. She barely had time to cry out before she was on the ground with me sitting on her shoulders. I laughed and grabbed her dyed hair, ripping it backwards. The others quickly stood to help her, but froze when they heard Johnny standing behind them.

"'Freaks' huh? You're such rude little bastards."  
He lashed out and kicked one of them in the stomach, sending them flying backwards into the other. As they stood up, one of them started heading my way, so I spun around and kicked him in the balls. He bent forward in agony and I took the opportunity to slam his face into my knee. I noticed the girl had gotten up and begun to run away, so I chased after her as he fell to the ground. I jumped on her back and wrapped my arms around her neck.

This was going well. I grinned. She choked and fell forward, so I drove my knee into her spine as gravity pulled me down on top of her. I got up and kicked her in the side as hard as I could, producing a strangled cry from her bloodied lips.

*_Blood? Oh, right. She fell on the pavement._*

**0o0o0**

!SUDDENLY, BACK AT THE APARTMENT!

"Sadee… I'm colllldd… Why the FUCK is the balcony door open?"

Silence.

"Sadee…?" Laura rolled over on her side.  
No one was there.  
"Fuck. Where did she go? Someone needs to close the damn door."  
She curled up. "Too fuckin' tired to move…"  
She relaxed a little. "Aw, fuck it."  
Then she went to sleep again.  
The door remained open, letting in a cold morning breeze….

**0o0o0**

ANYWAY. BACK TO THE PARK.

Johnny was dragging the last of them into the bloody pile on the pavement. They weren't dead, but they were moaning in pain and cursing at us. This made me laugh. Yeah, I know, I have issues. Sue me.

"That was more fun than the movie yesterday." He grinned.  
I giggled and stepped closer to him, looking down on the pile of broken bodies.

"I've never done that before…"I mumbled. "But I loved it."

Johnny obviously _had_ beaten people up before. He was way too good at it.  
I noticed that it was getting earlier, and the world seemed to be a light shade of blue. It was just getting light enough for us to see the damage we'd caused more clearly. There was blood everywhere from the broken noses and such, even on my clothes. He noticed that his shirt was bloody as well, and motioned to head back to the car.

"I'll drop you off at Laura's so you can get cleaned up," he said, sliding into the driver's seat.

"Sounds good. Hopefully I'll get back before she wakes up and notices that I'm gone. She'd have a fit if she knew what we did." I knew I was right. If those idiots call the police on us, Laura's gonna freak. I hesitated outside the car door. "Uh… I don't wanna get blood in your car," I said, tugging on the bottom of my stained shirt.

"Don't worry about it. This thing's a piece of shit anyway." He shrugged and turned the key. I hopped in and tried to keep the sticky parts of my shirt from touching his seats, despite what he said about not caring.

I suddenly realized that I was exhausted. After everything that had happened, I hadn't gotten _nearly_ enough sleep last night. Not that I really wanted to, but it wasn't healthy to stay up so much.

The next thing I knew, I heard Johnny's voice saying my name.

I opened my eyes and saw that I'd fallen asleep in his car on the way home.

*_…Well, fuck._*

"…Mercedes? We're here."  
I sat up as fast as I could and nearly smashed my head into his. He'd been leaning over me slightly, trying to wake me up.

"Oh shit! Sorry I passed out; I just didn't get enough sleep last night and…" I trailed off, looking at the expression on his face. He looked confused. "…What?"

"You talk in your sleep. And you move around a lot. Were you dreaming?" He raised one eyebrow at me.

"I... Don't know. I might have been, but I don't remember it." I yawned. As I reached to open the door, I realized that I was going home today. "FUCK. What time is it?" I whirled around to look at the clock on his radio.  
5:45 Am.  
My flight left at 6:30. Why did I have to choose to take a normal plane back? I should've had a jet ready. I groaned and rushed out the door. "Bye, Nny! It was fun hanging out with you and all, but my plane leaves in 45 minutes. I gotta hurry." He nodded.

"It was nice meeting you…" He had that thoughtful look again. It was driving me crazy. I tried to ignore it and ran up the stairs to Laura's apartment.

**0o0o0**

****He drove away slowly, thinking about the jerks he'd just smashed. He'd been hoping it would curb his killing impulses, but it hadn't been enough, really, just to beat them up. In the back of his mind he knew that Sadee had been wrong. There were more than three of them, and he knew where to find each and every one. No matter how hard he tried to push the thought away…

**Well, that's more or less the end of my hiatus.**

**However, don't expect me to immediately jump right back into things. I still have nothing typed for the next chapter.**

**...**

**Sorry about that.**


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